TREASURY

Civil Servants: Pensions

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what (a) methodology and (b) assumptions were used to calculate the example of a civil service pension used on page 17, Box 3.B case study 1 of Public Service Pensions: good pensions that last, Cm 8214;
	(2)  with reference to page 17, Box 3.B case study 1 Table 3.B of Treasury Command Paper Public Service Pensions: good pensions that last, Cm 8214, which civil service pension scheme the example relates to; and how many years pensionable service and which inflation index were used in the calculation relating to the old scheme;
	(3)  with reference to page 17, Box 3.B case study 1, Table 3.B options to consider Public Service Pensions: good pensions that last, Cm 8214, whether a reduction for early release before reaching pensionable age was used to calculate the figure for retirement at 61 years six months.

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many years pensionable service was used to calculate the £12,800 pension payment referred to in his Department's paper Public Service Pensions: good pensions that last (Cm 8214) page 17, Box 3.B, case study 1;
	(2)  with reference to the new career average scheme proposals for civil service pension schemes outlined in his Department's paper Public Service Pensions: good pensions that last (Cm 8214) page 17, what assumptions were made in relation to the accrual rate;
	(3)  what inflation index was used in the production of his Department's career average Pension Scheme Proposals for the Civil Service.

Danny Alexander: holding answers 25 November 2011
	On 2 November 2011, the Government published “Public Service Pensions: good pensions that last”, Cm8214. The document includes several case studies that provide illustrative examples of the impact on individuals if the Government's preferred pension scheme design were adopted. These case studies were prepared for HM Treasury by Hymans Robertson LLP using IFS data and HM Treasury assumptions.
	The career paths modelled assume each individual begins work aged 22, has a three year career break and retires at the normal pension age of their specific pension scheme.
	The assumptions used in calculating these case studies can be found on page 26 of the document. In addition, pensions taken before state pension age are subject to an early retirement reduction.

Departmental Redundancy Pay

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department will spend on staff redundancy payments in the (a) current and (b) next financial year.

Chloe Smith: HM Treasury does not currently have any plans to introduce a redundancy programme.
	Wherever possible, the aim will be to manage any necessary staff reductions within HM Treasury and its agencies through natural wastage at no additional cost.

EU Grants and Loans

Tessa Munt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was received under each budget heading of the EU's Structural and Cohesion Fund in each of the smallest geographical areas of the UK for which figures are available in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: I have been asked to reply.
	The smallest geographical area within the UK covered by a Structural Funds Operational Programme is Greater London. The second smallest is Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Over the last five years (2007 to 2011) some €470 million of Structural Funds has been allocated to London and some €458 million has been allocated to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

EU Grants and Loans

Tessa Munt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effects in each of the smallest geographical areas of the UK for which figures are available of UK receipts under EU structural and cohesion funding schemes on (a) the number of jobs, (b) the number of businesses created, (c) household income and (d) gross domestic product in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: I have been asked to reply.
	The smallest geographical area within the UK covered by a Structural Funds Operational Programme is Greater London. The second smallest is Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
	The data requested under (b), (c) and (d) are not collected for these programmes. The programmes have targets for the creation of jobs and for new businesses assisted to be achieved during the life of the programme. The current Structural Funds programmes run from 2007 to 2013 and projects continue to spend until the end of 2015. The full evaluation of the programmes cannot be completed until this process has been completed.

Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which organisations' officials and Ministers in his Department have met to discuss alcohol duty fraud in 2011 to date; and how many times meetings have taken place with each such organisation.

Chloe Smith: HMRC and Treasury officials meet with a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policy making process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Exports: Government Assistance

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to increase assistance to British firms exporting to (a) non-European Union and (b) rapidly growing overseas markets through UK Export Finance; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Government have already taken such steps. UK Export Finance introduced a number of new products on a pilot basis in the spring, and has been taking steps to improve awareness of them.
	UK Export Finance and UK Trade & Investment have been undertaking a market awareness campaign across the UK alongside banks, trade associations and professional bodies, to meet small and medium sized exporters to inform them of the availability of UK Export Finance's products. UK Export Finance aims to make contact with as many exporters as possible through direct contact, the media and other avenues.
	Next year the Government will review the new products with a view to identifying whether any changes are necessary to improve their effectiveness and/or financial performance.

Inland Revenue

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the holder of his Office lost the prerogative power ceded to his predecessors by the Privy Council to reward informers in revenue cases.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs are empowered to pay rewards by virtue of Section 26 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.

Inland Revenue

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Inland Revenue's Annual Reports 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and the organisation charts therein at pages 9, 37 and 37 respectively; on what date the Large Business Office, International Division and Special Compliance Office came together under the control of Commissioner Matheson; on what date the Large Business Office left the control of Commissioner Matheson or his successor Commissioner Hartnett; on what dates the aforementioned changes in organisation were agreed; in what forum they were agreed; who was present on each occasion; what the reasons were for combining the primary task of the collection of tax in the Large Business Office with the policy, compliance and oversight functions accorded to Commissioner Matheson and executed through the Special Compliance Office and International Division; and what the reasons were for returning to the original structure.

David Gauke: The information is not available.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reasons an initial public offering was not attempted in the sale of Northern Rock.

Mark Hoban: A full range of options for returning Northern Rock plc to the private sector was evaluated by HM Treasury, UK Financial Investments Ltd and independent advisers including an Initial Public Offering. Ultimately, it was decided that the sale of Northern Rock plc would generate the best value for the taxpayer.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the advice he received from Deutsche Bank recommending that he proceed with the sale of Northern Rock to Virgin Money.

Mark Hoban: The deal is expected to complete on 1 January 2012, pending European Commission (EC) merger clearance and Financial Services Authority (FSA) approval.
	The Government will consider what information regarding the Northern Rock sale process will be disclosed following the completion of the transaction.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what information he holds on how the board of Northern Rock voted on the decision for the sale of the bank to Virgin Money;
	(2)  what discussions the board of Northern Rock had on the timing of the sale of the bank to Virgin Money;
	(3)  what information he holds on whether the board of Northern Rock discussed the different options for the sale of the bank; and if he will place the minutes of any such discussions in the Library.

Mark Hoban: Any discussions of the board of Northern Rock plc are a matter for Northern Rock plc.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether he asked for or received information on what the remuneration and incentive schemes for (a) the Chief Executive Officer, (b) the Finance Director and (c) any other Executive Directors of Northern Rock will be under Virgin Money ownership;
	(2)  what the incentive schemes are for (a) the Chief Executive Officer, (b) the Finance Director and (c) any other executive directors of Northern Rock;
	(3)  what information he asked for or received regarding the compensation arrangements that have been agreed for the departing Northern Rock board members.

Mark Hoban: The remuneration and incentive schemes of Northern Rock plc directors under Virgin Money ownership are a matter for Virgin Money.
	Information regarding the remuneration and incentive schemes for Northern Rock plc board members can be found in Northern Rock plc's annual report and accounts 2010 via the following web link:
	http://companyinfo.northernrock.co.uk/investorRelations/results/
	No decisions have been made regarding compensation arrangements for departing Northern Rock plc board members.

Northern Rock

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he had with the European Commission on extending the deadline for the transfer of Northern Rock from public ownership beyond 2013.

Mark Hoban: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Northern Rock

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) loan period and (b) extent of return to the public purse is of the capital instrument lending to Virgin Money to facilitate the takeover of Northern Rock.

Mark Hoban: Virgin Money will issue to HM Treasury, on completion of the sale, Tier 1 Capital Notes with a par value of £150 million and an annual coupon of 10.5%.
	Virgin Money has indicated that it intends the notes would be exchanged, or purchased by the acquirer, upon an Initial Public Offering or sale, without reducing the amount and quality of the firm's capital resources, which would allow HM Treasury to exit its investment.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the contractual arrangements made for the retention of (a) branches and (b) jobs in the sale of Northern Rock.

Mark Hoban: The deal is expected to complete on 1 January 2012, pending European Commission (EC) merger clearance and Financial Services Authority (FSA) approval.
	As the transaction has not yet been completed, the Government are bound by confidentiality agreements and are unable to release or publish information regarding the sale process. The Government will consider what information regarding the Northern Rock sale process will be disclosed following the completion of the transaction.
	Virgin Money has made a number of commitments in its announcement about Northern Rock on 17 November. These are public commitments which are made in writing by Virgin Money.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of the tier 1 capital ratio of Northern Rock in each of the next three years.

Mark Hoban: The future capital requirements for the combined business of Northern Rock plc and Virgin Money are a matter for the Financial Services Authority and Virgin Money.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what correspondence his Department has exchanged with the Financial Services Authority on using Northern Rock's capital reserves to part-fund its sale.

Mark Hoban: Treasury Ministers and officials correspond with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such correspondence.
	Virgin Money has announced that the combined business of Northern Rock plc and Virgin Money will have a minimum 15% tier 1 capital ratio.
	The future capital requirements for the combined business of Northern Rock plc and Virgin Money are a matter for the Financial Services Authority and Virgin Money.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the new convertible debt in lieu of payments in the sale of Northern Rock will be received as a cash receipt during the remainder of this Parliament.

Mark Hoban: Virgin Money will issue to HM Treasury, on completion of the sale, tier 1 capital notes with a par value of £150 million and an annual coupon of 10.5%.
	Virgin Money has indicated that it intends the notes would be exchanged, or purchased by the acquirer, upon an initial public offering or sale, without reducing the amount and quality of the firm's capital resources, which would allow HM Treasury to exit its investment.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Europol

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for offences committed in the UK there have been resulting from operations which were co-ordinated in part or entirely by Europol by type of offence in each year since Europol became operational; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 25 November 2011
	Europol does not undertake operational activity itself. It acts as a conduit for the secure exchange of information between member states and assists with the co-ordination of investigations when requested by member states. It also provides analytical support at the request of member states.
	Any investigation remains the responsibility of the investigating member state and it is therefore not possible to provide information on the number of convictions in the UK resulting from Europol activity in each year since Europol’s inception.

Arrest Warrants

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been returned to the UK under the European arrest warrant (EAW) to serve an existing sentence, broken down by type of offence and length of sentence in each year from the inception of the EAW to date; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: holding answer 7 November 2011
	Due to the way that the data are recorded, it is not possible to break down these figures by the number returned to face prosecution or to serve an existing sentence in each year, without a manual examination of each individual case file. This would incur a disproportionate cost.

Assaults: Prisons

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accusations of assault on a member of prison staff have been investigated by the police in each of the last five years.

Nick Herbert: The information requested is not available from the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.

Asylum

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases considered by the UK Border Agency's Case Assurance and Audit Unit have resulted in an individual being (a) removed and (b) granted indefinite leave to remain in each month since July 2011.

Damian Green: From July 2011 to October 2011 the UK Border Agency's Case Assurance and Audit Unit have considered (a) 1,074 cases which have resulted in a removal of an individual (b) 829 cases leading to a grant of indefinite leave (c) 1,906 cases which have resulted in a grant of temporary leave:
	
		
			 Cases 
			  Granted ILR Granted temporary leave Removed 
			 July 2011 290 234 244 
			 August 2011 149 342 317 
			 September 2011 209 670 284 
			 October 2011 181 660 229 
			 Sum 829 1,906 1,074 
			 Source: Local management information provided by UKBA, North West Region Planning and MI team. It is not a national statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.

Bramshill Police College

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has any plans for the sale of Bramshill police college; and what estimate she has made of the likely sale value.

Nick Herbert: As part of the reform of the policing landscape the National Policing Improvement Agency has commissioned a review of the Bramshill estate.

British Nationality

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has received any applications to reduce the normal time period required for UK naturalisation in each of the last three years; and how many have (a) been received and (b) been successful.

Damian Green: No statistical information is available which would record any requests made by applicants for naturalisation as British citizens to reduce the required residence periods.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), does have discretion over absences from the United Kingdom during the qualifying residence period. Discretion is also available to waive the residence requirements under schedule 1 sections 1(3) and 4(d) of the British Nationality Act 1981 when applicants are applying on the basis of Crown or designated service.
	However, no discretion is available to waive the requirement to have been physically present in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the residential qualifying period.
	The use of discretion is part of the consideration process.
	No statistical information is available to record the use of discretion during the consideration process.

Cleveland Police Authority

Stuart Bell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to Cleveland police authority between 1 May 2010 and 25 August 2011 was of the initial enquiries into the affairs of Cleveland Constabulary authorised by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary to be made by the North Yorkshire Constabulary; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not hold this information.

Departmental Written Questions

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether draft answers to parliamentary questions prepared by officials in her Department are cleared by special advisers (a) before and (b) after the relevant Minister.

Damian Green: All answers to parliamentary questions are the responsibility of the Minister who responds. Clearance processes reflect this.

Deportation

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals were removed from the UK in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009, (d) 2010 and (e) 2011 to date.

Theresa May: The following table shows the total number of removals and voluntarily departures from the UK during 2007-10, and January to September 2011.
	
		
			 Removals and voluntary departures (1, 2) , January 2007 to September 2011 
			 Number of departures 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 (3) January to September 2011 (3) 
			 Total removals and voluntary departures 63,367 67,981 67,214 60,244 38,865 
			 (1) Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (2) Figures include enforced removals, non-asylum cases refused entry at port and subsequently removed, people departing voluntarily after notifying the UK Border Agency of their intention to leave prior to their departure, people leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by Refugee Action (prior to April 2011, run by the International Organisation for Migration) and people who it has been established left without informing the immigration authorities. (3) Provisional figures.

Deportation: Zimbabwe

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been removed by the UK Border Agency to Zimbabwe in each of the last two years.

Damian Green: There were 363 removals and voluntary departures from the UK to Zimbabwe in 2009; and 414 in 2010. These figures include nationals of Zimbabwe and other nationals who departed to Zimbabwe. The 2010 figure is provisional.
	These figures include enforced removals, people departing voluntarily after notifying the UK Border Agency of their intention to leave prior to their departure, people leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes and people who it has been established left the UK without informing the immigration authorities.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within ‘Immigration Statistics'. The data on removals and voluntary departures are available in tables rv.01 to rv.08 from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, Research and Statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Detention Centres: Children

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children held by the UK Border Agency in pre-departure accommodation were resident in Scotland prior to the enforcement of their return in each of the last 12 months.

Damian Green: One child who was resident in Scotland prior to their removal was in pre-departure accommodation in November 2011.
	No other child from Scotland has been in these facilities in the last 12 months.

Detention Centres: Children

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children resident in Scotland have been moved to Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre since May 2010.

Damian Green: Since May 2010 no children resident in Scotland have been moved to Yarl’s Wood.

Drug Seizures

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) heroin and (b) cocaine was seized by UK Border Agency staff in (i) July, (ii) August and (iii) September 2011, at (A) Dover, (B) Heathrow, (C) Gatwick and (D) Stansted.

Damian Green: holding answer 23 November 2011
	We will be providing copies of all relevant documentation as appropriate to the inquiries that are currently under way into border security issues.
	The latest drug seizure statistics that have been produced in accordance with the Home Office’s Statement of Compliance are contained within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, 2010/11”, published on 10 November 2011 and available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1711/hosb1711?view=Binary
	These contain information for the full-year and are not broken down into individual month.
	The annual seizures for 2010-11 amounted to 420 kg of heroin, 1,519 kg of cocaine and 14 kg of crack-cocaine.

Drug Seizures

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) heroin and (b) cocaine has been seized by UK Border Agency staff in each month since May 2010.

Damian Green: holding answer 23 November 2011
	We will be providing copies of all relevant documentation as appropriate to the inquiries that are currently under way into border security issues.
	The latest drug seizure statistics that have been produced in accordance with the Home Office's Statement of Compliance are contained within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, “Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, 2010/11” (accessed via the following link), published on 10 November 2011. These contain information for the full-year and are not broken down into individual month. The annual seizures for 2010-11 amounted to 420 kg of heroin, 1,519 kg of cocaine and 14 kg of crack-cocaine.
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1711/hosb1711?view=Binary

Entry Clearances

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many tier 2 intra-company transfers were issued in (a) July 2008 to June 2009, (b) July 2009 to June 2010 and (c) July 2010 to June 2011.

Theresa May: Tier 2 and the category intra-company transfers were introduced in November 2008.
	There were 10,065, 26,554 and 29,390 visas issued to main applicants under tier 2 intra-company transfers respectively in July 2008 to June 2009, July 2009 to June 2010 and July 2010 to June 2011. There were 3,258, 6,507 and 6,231 grants of extensions of stay to such applicants for the same periods.
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas issued and grants of extension, together with earlier data, are published in the Immigration Statistics release, which is available from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2011/
	A copy of the latest release, “Immigration Statistics July-September 2011”, will be placed in the House Library.

Entry Clearances: Crime

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas were issued to people (a) known to have and (b) subsequently discovered to have a criminal conviction in their country of origin in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: No figures are held for visa applicants known to have a criminal conviction in their country of origin or subsequently discovered to have a criminal conviction in their country of origin after the visa had been issued. It is not possible to provide a breakdown.

European Union Directive

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the merits of seeking to invoke restrictions in respect of the European Union Directive 2004/58/EC under the auspices of (a) public policy, (b) security and (c) health; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: holding answer 25 November 2011
	The restrictions on the rights of entry and residence set out in Directive 2004/38/EC have been implemented in the UK by way of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (“the Regulations”).
	The UK Border Agency uses these restrictions to consider for deportation all EEA nationals sentenced to two years' imprisonment or over, and any EEA national sentenced to 12 months or over for sex, drugs or violence offences. In addition, since the regulations were amended on 1 June 2009 to allow the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), to exclude from the UK EEA nationals and/or members of their families on the grounds of public policy, public security or public health, this power has been used to exclude individuals who are considered to be a threat to our national security.
	The Government believes it is important to use this principle in appropriate cases in order to prevent abuse of the right of free movement by criminals.

Extradition: USA

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people were extradited from the US to the UK in 2010; and how many such people were US nationals;
	(2)  how many people were extradited from the UK to the US in 2010; and how many such people were UK nationals.

Damian Green: holding answer 7 November 2011
	In 2010 there were five people extradited from the US to the UK; and of these there was one US national.
	In 2010 there were 12 people extradited from the UK to the US; 10 of these were extradited under the 2003 Extradition Act and two under the 1989 Extradition Act. Of these 12 there were three UK nationals, one dual British/Pakistani national and one dual British/Polish national. For the purposes of the question, we have taken the “UK” as meaning England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland deals with its own US cases.

Entry Clearance

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) General Tatiana Gerasimova and (b) General Nikolai Shelepanov (i) have been and (ii) will be allowed to enter the UK.

Damian Green: It is a long-established practice that we do not comment routinely on whether particular individuals have, or have not, been allowed to enter the UK. Any individual wishing to come to the UK must meet the relevant requirements of the immigration rules.

Entry Clearance

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department (i) have had and (ii) plan to have discussions with (A) General Tatiana Gerasimova and (B) General Nikolai Shelepanov.

Damian Green: We can find no record that Home Office Ministers or officials have met or plan to meet these individuals.

Immigrants: Detainees

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the daily average cost of detaining an individual on immigration-related grounds.

Damian Green: The average daily cost of holding an individual in the UKBA detention estate for 2011-12 is estimated at £102.

Immigrants: English Language

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the level of the English test fees set by the UK Border Agency; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: holding answer 25 November 2011
	Test costs are set by the providers and not the UK Border Agency. While we monitor the provision of tests by our providers, it would not be right to impose fees or limits especially when providers are operating overseas, as we are not experts in the field of language testing. We are confident that our providers give value for money and that costs are proportionate. If information was received to the contrary, we would address this with the provider concerned.

Immigration

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Gurkhas living in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) London have been granted leave to remain in the UK since May 2009.

Damian Green: The number of Gurkhas granted leave to remain in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency is under five.
	The number of Gurkhas granted leave to remain in the London area is 14.
	This information has been taken from the individuals’ last known address. The postcodes used for Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency have been taken from the Office of National Statistics database. All figures quoted are management information which has been subject to internal quality checks.

Immigration: Liverpool Airport

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people entered the UK via (a) Liverpool John Lennon Airport and (b) Liverpool Port when UK border controls were relaxed in summer 2011.

Damian Green: holding answer 24 November 2011
	A subset of the latest published data for the first three quarters of 2011 along with figures for 2010 showing recent levels of passenger arrivals at Liverpool are given in the following table. It is not possible to show airport and seaport data separately from information collated centrally. These figures are numbers of journeys and include passengers in transit who do not pass through immigration controls.
	
		
			 Passenger arrivals to the United Kingdom at Liverpool ports including EEA and Swiss nationals, January 2010 to September 2011 
			  Total passengers admitted 
			 Q1 2010 294,000 
			 Q2 2010 417,000 
			 Q3 2010 611,000 
			 Q4 2010 416,000 
			 Q1 2011 430,000 
			 Q2 2011 617,000 
			 Q3 2011 713,000 
			 Notes: 1. A subset of data in table ad.01.q of 'Immigration Statistics July to September 2011'. 2. Provisional figures. 3. Includes airside transfer/transit passengers of all nationalities who did not pass through immigration control. 4. Numbers are rounded to three significant figures. Source: Home Office, Migration Statistics 
		
	
	Information relating to total passenger arrivals are published quarterly in table ‘ad.01.q’ of the Home Office statistical release ‘Immigration Statistics’ which is available from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/
	A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics July to September 2011, will be placed in the House Library.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the level of knife crime in (a) East Lancashire and (b) Pendle constituency.

Nick Herbert: Data for selected offences involving the use of a knife or sharp instrument are collected by the Home Office at police force area level only, so data are not available for Pendle constituency or East Lancashire. Data are provided for Lancashire police force area.
	In 2010-11, Lancashire police recorded 670 offences which involved a knife or a sharp instrument. The selected offences are: attempted murder, grievous bodily harm (with and without intent), actual bodily harm, threats to kill, robbery, sexual assault and rape offences.
	Data for homicides involving the use of a knife or sharp instrument are collected via the Homicide Index. The most recently available data are for 2009-10. In this year, the police recorded 10 knife and sharp instrument homicides. Homicide data for 2010-11 will be available from January 2012.

Piracy

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral answer of 14 November 2011, Official Report, column 564, on piracy, what the legal status of security personnel stationed on UK-registered merchant ships off the horn of Africa will be; what rules of engagement will be issued to them; and what guidance they will be given on working with UK armed forces personnel deployed off the horn of Africa.

James Brokenshire: Following the Prime Minister’s confirmation last month that the Government now recognise the engagement of private armed guards as an option to protect human life onboard UK registered ships in exceptional circumstances, the Department for Transport, the Home Office and other Government Departments are working to finalise national guidance to shipowners and an interim process by which private security companies can lawfully possess prohibited firearms onboard UK ships in these exceptional circumstances. It is expected that the guidance will be published shortly and a written ministerial statement will be made at that time.

Serious and Organised Crime Agency

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency since November 2010 on metal theft.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 25 November 2011
	Since November 2010 Home Office Ministers have had various discussions with representatives from the Serious Organised Crime Agency on a range of subjects, including metal theft.

Stephen Lawrence Death Inquiry

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the correspondence files of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry to be made publicly available.

Nick Herbert: Most of the Home Office papers relating to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry have been released and are already available to the public at The National Archives (TNA).
	The historic review programme of the remaining Home Office files for the Stephen Lawrence inquiry is currently being developed. Given the high profile of these papers, they will be included for review and transferred to TNA as a priority as soon as possible.

Metal Theft

Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with police forces on the roll-out of Operation Fragment to areas other than Avon and Somerset.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office is in discussion with the Association of Chief Police Officers to identify and develop effective approaches to tackle metal theft, including learning from previous operations.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Petitions: Electronic Government

Greg Knight: To ask the Leader of the House what the total cost to the public purse was of design and creation of the Government's e-petition website; and what its projected running cost is for each of the next three years.

George Young: The Government's e-petition site was designed and created by the Government Digital Service, in conjunction with the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, at a cost of £80,700. The projected technical running cost for the first three years of operation is £32,000 per annum.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Military Bases

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which RAF bases were used for operational flying in the last 12 months; and which aircraft operated from each base.

Nick Harvey: The Information requested is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			 RAF unit Aircraft 
			 RAF Lossiemouth Tornado GR4 and Sea King Mk3/3a 
			 RAF Leuchars Typhoon and Tornado F3 (until March 2011) 
			 RAF Boulmer Sea King Mk3/3a 
		
	
	
		
			 RAF Leeming Hawk T1 
			 DST Leconfield Sea King Mk3/3a 
			 RAF Waddington Nimrod R1 (until June 2011), Sentry and Sentinel, King Air 
			 RAF Coningsby Typhoon 
			 RAF Cottesmore/Wittering Harrier (until December 2010) 
			 RAF Marham Tornado GR4 
			 Wattisham Airfield Sea King Mk3/3a 
			 RAF Brize Norton Hercules C130J and C130K, C17, Tristar and VC10 
			 RAF Lyneham Hercules C130J and C130K (until June 2011) 
			 RAF Benson Puma and Merlin Mk3/3a 
			 RAF Northolt BAe146, HS125 and Agusta 109 
			 RMB Chivenor Sea King Mk3/3a 
			 RAF Odiham Chinook 
			 RAF Akrotiri Griffin HAR2, Tristar and VC10, Nirnrod R1, Sentinel, E3D Sentry, Hercules C130 
			 Mount Pleasant Airfield, Falklands Hercules C130J, Typhoon and VC10 Sea King Mk3/3a 
			 RAF Valley Sea King Mk3/3a 
			 Notes: 1. Includes established RAF units and permanent air bases in the UK, Cyprus and Falklands. 2. Excludes the flying training pipeline, operational conversion units, operational evaluation units and the Red Arrows.

Armed Forces: Children

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on improving education provision for children of service personnel based in the UK.

Andrew Robathan: Ofsted's 2010-11 report showed that most children from service families educated in mainstream maintained schools performed as well as, or better than, their non-service peers at the end of each key stage level.
	While the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has not had any discussions with the Local Government Association (LGA), I recently attended the joint Community Covenant LGA/Ministry of Defence (MOD) conference where schools admissions policy and the additional funding available to schools with service children was raised. MOD officials have also met and continue to meet with LGA representatives to discuss a wide range of issues.
	The MOD continues to work with the Department for Education to ensure an effective school admissions policy is developed which takes into account the unique mobility obligations of service families. In addition, the service pupil premium, the £3 million support fund for schools with service children and scholarships for the children of those who have died in the line of duty, have all been implemented recently.

Armed Forces: Credit

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action the Government is taking to ensure service families have access to affordable credit.

Andrew Robathan: Ministry of Defence officials are working with, among others, the UK's Credit Reference Agencies, Royal Mail and the British Banking Association, to establish a system to improve the validation of credit histories for armed forces personnel. This in turn should improve the ability of the service community to access mortgages and to apply for mainstream credit. We have also encouraged the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Society Association to remind their front-line staff of the unique nature of life in the armed forces and thereby help to prevent the service community being disadvantaged.

Armed Forces: Housing

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many married quarters in Portsmouth are unoccupied; and how many of these have been unoccupied for more than three months.

Andrew Robathan: As at 22 November 2011, of the 2,819 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in the Portsmouth area, 309 were void (empty), of which 181 had been void for over three months.
	There are 143 void properties which have been allocated to families shortly due to move in. A further 85 are due to be handed back to Annington Homes Ltd on 24 November 2011 which will bring the percentage of void properties in the area below the target management margin of 10% of total stock.
	A management margin of empty (void) properties has to be maintained to allow for routine movements of personnel, major improvement works or disposal.

Armed Forces: Housing

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel above the rank of commander are living in married quarter accommodation in Portsmouth; and how many of these are receiving financial educational support for their children.

Andrew Robathan: This information is not held centrally or in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Captain McLeod

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why the conduct of the Commanding Officer was excluded from the terms of reference of the investigation into bullying in the case of Captain McLeod of Oxford.

Andrew Robathan: As I explained in my letter of 29 September to the right hon. Member on this matter, I cannot comment on this case while internal processes are ongoing.
	However, I can confirm that the individual concerned and his Assisting Officer are being kept fully informed of progress in relation to the internal processes.

Cybercrime

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) UK and (b) international legal framework for the use of offensive cyber warfare capabilities is.

Nick Harvey: In a military context any such operations would be strictly governed under the well-established law of armed conflict and more broadly by domestic and international humanitarian law. Well-understood concepts such as proportionality of action apply to cyberspace as much as they do to actions in the air, land or maritime domains.

Cybercrime

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his officials are involved in the development of the Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare.

Nick Harvey: The Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare is being formulated by NATO's Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. No Ministry of Defence personnel are engaged in working on this document at this time, although we are aware of its development.

Defence Equipment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many counterfeit electronic parts have been detected on equipment owned by his Department in each of the last five years.

Peter Luff: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) Quality Assurance Authority has not received any reports of counterfeit electronic parts having been detected on MOD equipment in the last five years.
	The MOD's framework of contract conditions requires that our contractors supply ‘fit for purpose’ products. Recent changes to the framework have included a strengthening of the requirements for Certificates of Conformance, whereby suppliers must attest that their product meets MOD requirements.
	The only effective method of assessing whether a particular item is counterfeit is to test it against its original specification. Whenever ‘suspect' material is notified to the MOD Quality Assurance Authority (QAA), alerts are raised to all possible users advising them to take the appropriate review action and to test items if necessary.
	The MOD is aware that counterfeit products are becoming a serious problem worldwide and is currently working closely with industry experts to raise awareness of the risk of counterfeit parts entering the supply chain. A Counterfeit Awareness Working Group (CAWG) has been established, to develop guidance on the issue to be used across the MOD and industry. The CAWG arranged an awareness event on counterfeit parts for the MOD and industry personnel in July 2011 and is planning another for June 2012.

Departmental Audit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many internal audits have taken place (a) in his Department and (b) in the non-departmental bodies for which his Department is responsible in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: Between 1 November 2010 and 31 October 2011, Defence Internal Audit completed a total of 144 audits. These include four audits for non-departmental public bodies.

Departmental Correspondence

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many letters sent from the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans to (a) charities, (b) members of the Armed Forces and (c) members of the public have been signed (i) personally and (ii) using an electronic or scanned signature since 11 May 2010;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues in his Department on the use of scanned and electronic signatures in letters to hon. Members;
	(3)  what proportion of letters were signed (a) personally and (b) using an electronic or scanned signature by each Minister in his Department since 11 May 2010.

Andrew Robathan: I never use an electronic or scanned signature to sign letters.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 November 2011, Official Report, column 687W.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any disciplinary action has been taken against any official of his Department arising from allegations of bribery on the part of GPT.

Peter Luff: holding answer 24 November 2011
	No disciplinary action has been taken against any official of the Ministry of Defence.

Departmental Equality

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps his Department has taken to promote equality of opportunity; and at what cost to the public purse.

Andrew Robathan: The permanent secretary and the Chief of Defence Staff jointly chair a diversity panel and are supported by diversity champions at senior civil service level. We have a small central team, under 10 people, of dedicated professionals who provide the Department with advice and guidance around its efforts to remove or minimise disadvantages and meet the needs of its staff. For example, the Ministry of Defence civil service launched the new ‘ability passport' scheme in August this year for use by staff requiring reasonable adjustments. This is not a mandatory requirement but the scheme has been created to assist staff who may change jobs or experience a change of line manager. The armed forces have also recently introduced a number of initiatives for service personnel, including a Naval Service parenting network and an Army women's network. The team also assists the Department in seeking out opportunities to help people who share a protected characteristic to participate in public life.
	The cost to the public purse is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many unique hits his Department's website received in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Robathan: Statistics for the Ministry of Defence corporate website:
	www.mod.uk
	for the last 12 months are as detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 Ministry of Defence http://www.mod.uk 
			  Unique visitors Visits Page impressions/views 
			 2010    
			 November 383,045 662,147 2,289,979 
			 December 307,997 536,901 1,761,668 
			     
			 2011    
			 January 369,912 631,828 2,175,925 
			 February 374,983 652,598 2,231,375 
			 March 480,517 815,660 2,644,254 
			 April 410,324 694,555 2,204,767 
			 May 404,405 711,973 2,277,439 
			 June 400,104 720,205 2,316,623 
			 July 374,910 677,176 2,209,697 
			 August 419,604 708,158 2,266,321 
			 September 409,696 682,454 2,171,981 
			 October 408,729 669,982 2,206,702 
			     
			 Total (1)3, 894,552 8,163,637 26,756,731 
			 (1) The annual total unique visitors figure has duplicated visitor records removed as per reporting guidance, to ensure the annual number of unique visitors is not inflated by a simple addition of monthly totals. 
		
	
	These show the number of unique visitors, visits and page impressions and comply with the guidance issued by the Central Office of Information (COI) on the methodology for identifying website usage in response to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Sixteenth Report. A copy of the guidance has been placed in the Library of the House and can be found at the following links:
	COI guidance measuring website usage TGI 16:
	http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=229
	PAC Sixteenth Report:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmpubacc/143/14302.htm

Judicial Review

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what applications for judicial review have been made against his Department (a) in the last Parliament and (b) since May 2010; whether each such application (i) succeeded, (ii) failed and (iii) remains pending; what legal costs were incurred by his Department for each such application; in each failed application whether he applied for costs against the applicant and whether they were (A) awarded and (B) paid; whether his Department (1) paid for and (2) offered to pay for the legal costs incurred by each such applicant; and what the total cost to the public purse was of payment of the legal costs for each such applicant.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not able to supply all the information requested in this question, as some figures for the years requested are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Nevertheless, the MOD can supply the following information regarding judicial reviews. In the period of the last Parliament, from 2005 to 2010, the Treasury Solicitor's Department have estimated a total of 210 judicial reviews in England and Wales involved the MOD at a cost to the Department of £8,275,790. There were no judicial reviews in Scotland during the period of the last Parliament.
	Since May 2010, there have been 81 new cases in England and Wales, at a current cost of £247,149. Of those listed for England and Wales, it is estimated that at present 192 judicial review cases are still open. There is one review in Scotland that has yet to conclude, which to date has cost the Department £10,642.

Departmental Older Workers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people his Department employs who are aged over (a) 55 and (b) 65 years.

Andrew Robathan: The information requested is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			 Strength of UK regular forces by age at 1 October 2011 
			 Age Total number 
			 55+ 290 
			 55 to 64 290 
			 65 0 
			 Notes: l. UK regular forces includes all trained and untrained personnel. Gurkhas, full-time reserve personnel and mobilised reservists are excluded. 2. Due to ongoing validation of data from the Joint Personnel Administration System, service strength statistics for 1 October 2011 are provisional and subject to review. 3. Due to rounding methods used, figures may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Source: DASA (Quad-Service). 
		
	
	
		
			 Strength of civilian personnel by age at 1 October 2011 
			 Age Total number (headcount) 
			 55+ 18,110 
			 55 to 64 16,690 
			 65+ 1,420 
			 Notes: 1. Headcount is a measure of the size of the work force that counts all people equally regardless of their hours of work. 2. The above includes core MOD and Trading Fund personnel but excludes Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) personnel and locally-engaged civilians (LEC) for whom data in respect of age are not held centrally. 3. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sum of their rounded parts. Source: DASA (Quad-Service).

Official Photographs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many official photographs have been taken of (a) Ministers and (b) senior officials in his Department for use in Government publications since May 2010; how many staff of his Department are expected to undertake photography of the ministerial and senior leadership team as part of their duties; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: Official photographs are taken of Ministers and senior officials when they attend official events and of visiting Ministers and senior military officers of other countries. No central records are kept of the number.
	No photographers are employed principally to photograph Ministers or senior officials, but any photographer would obviously be expected to take such photographs, if required, as part of their principal duties.

Procurement

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on its prime contracts in (a) the south-west, (b) the south-east, (c) central and (d) east in each year since 2003.

Andrew Robathan: The amounts spent on the prime contracts per calendar year are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Regional prime contracts 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Central — 3.4 64.2 117.5 105.0 69.9 76.7 
			 East — 5.8 41.0 86.1 91.1 64.6 71.6 
			 South-east — 27.8 83.0 115.0 104.7 99.8 74.4 
			 South-west 49.4 62.3 104.8 102.0 125.5 107.1 102.8 
		
	
	No spend is shown for 2003 as the first of the contracts was only placed in March 2004. The start dates for the contracts are as follows:
	East: March 2006
	Central: April 2006
	South-east: September 2005
	South-west: March 2004.

Procurement

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on the two regional routine maintenance contracts in Northern Ireland in each year since 2003.

Andrew Robathan: The two term contracts for maintenance and minor new works in Northern Ireland commenced in 2006. Total spend since then is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Total spend (£ million) 
			 2006-07 11.4 
			 2007-08 22.0 
			 2008-09 21.2 
			 2009-10 21.4 
			 2010-11 19.2 
		
	
	Information prior to the setting up of the term contracts in 2006 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Redundancy

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many of the employees of his Department who will be made redundant in his Department's planned programme of redundancies are (a) front line combat personnel and (b) logistics personnel;
	(2)  what proportion of employees of his Department who will be made redundant in his Department's planned programme of redundancies are female.

Andrew Robathan: The Strategic Defence and Security Review set a savings target equivalent to a reduction in the civilian work force of 25,000, and a reduction of 17,000 posts in the regular armed forces by 31 March 2015. The Department's aim is that, so far as possible, those savings will be made without recourse to compulsory redundancy.
	For the civilian work force, allowing for the effects of normal staff turnover and the current civil service recruitment restrictions, it was estimated that the Department would need to agree some 15,500 paid releases between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2014. Accordingly, a voluntary early release scheme was launched in February. By the end of October 2011, 2,589 individuals had left under this scheme. It is important to note that these are not redundancies.
	The armed forces redundancy programme is still in its early stages. Gender is not a factor and all service personnel are eligible for service on front-line operations provided that they are medically fit to do so, and could be considered for redundancy.
	Following the recently completed first tranche of redundancies, Defence Analytical Service and Advice (DASA) has recently produced a statistical report on the programme. This lists those individuals selected for redundancy by categories including trade and gender. Some 10% are female. The full report can be found on the Ministry of Defence website at:
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	and a copy has also been placed in the Library of the House.

Secondment

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officials employed by his Department have been (a) working at and (b) seconded to the National Archives at Kew.

Andrew Robathan: None.

Written Questions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day his Department has answered on the due date in the 2010 to 2012 Session of Parliament to date.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) received 1,418 written questions for answer on a named day in the 2010-12 Session of Parliament, up to 22 November 2011. Of these, 725, or 51%, were answered on the due date.
	The MOD shall be providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance at the end of the parliamentary Session. Statistics relating to the MOD’s performance for the 2009-10 Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Ex-servicemen

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what records his Department keeps on the career destinations of former military personnel.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence does not maintain records of the career destinations of service leavers, and to do so would require service leavers to notify us when they pursue alternative job opportunities. However, a survey of all service leavers six months after discharge is conducted by the Career Transition Partnership and in 2010, service leavers found post-service employment within 44 industry sectors across the public, private and voluntary/community sectors. These industry sectors are diverse and range from accountancy and finance through to sports and leisure.

Falkland Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the Falkland Islands.

Nick Harvey: The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has regular discussions with his US counterpart. The nature of those discussions is confidential.

Germany: Armed Forces

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he provided written notice to the German Government of his plans to withdraw troops from Germany.

Nick Harvey: The previous Secretary of State for Defence, the right hon. Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), wrote to his German counterpart Dr Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg on publication of the Strategic Defence and Security Review in October 2010 to inform him of our plans to withdraw troops from Germany.
	Since that time, the Ministry of Defence has continued to liaise closely with the German Government, the Federal Ministry of Defence and regional and local authorities as our plans have developed. We have also worked hard to ensure coherence in our announcements to ensure that Ministers, our ambassador to Germany, General Officer Commanding UK Support Command, our Defence Attaché in Berlin and others have been able to brief their German counterparts in a timely fashion.

Guided Weapons

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cruise missiles have been fired in action by UK forces in each theatre in the last five years.

Nick Harvey: No cruise missiles have been fired by UK forces in Afghanistan or Iraq in the last five years. Cruise missiles have been fired into Libya. I am withholding details of the number of cruise missiles that have been fired, as the disclosure of this information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Legal Opinion

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many times his Department sought legal advice from external counsel in (a) 2007, (b) 2009, (c) 2010 and (d) the first six months of 2011;
	(2)  what the cost was of (a) internal and (b) external legal advice commissioned by his Department in the first six months of 2011;
	(3)  how much his Department spent on (a) legal advice and (b) instructing counsel in (i) 2007, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2010 and (iv) the first six months of 2011; how many times (A) his Department was taken to court and (B) a decision taken by his Department was subject to a judicial review; and what the outcome was of each such (1) case and (2) review.

Andrew Robathan: Information on the number of times that external legal advice has been sought is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The amounts spent by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) on instructing counsel via the Treasury Solicitor's department in England and Wales were as follows:
	2007-08: £2,924,728
	2009-10: £4,062,823
	2010-11: £4,511,062.
	In the first six months of 2011, we estimate that a sum of £1,811,634 has so far been spent on instructing counsel in England and Wales. Instructing via the Treasury Solicitor's department accounts for the majority of our costs for external counsel.
	Information on the amounts spent by the Department on legal advice in Scotland, where the MOD is represented by solicitor-agents, was as follows:
	2007-08: £1,088,448
	2008-09: £1,399,101
	2009-10: £1,370,447
	2010-11: £1,034,126.
	The Treasury Solicitor's department also reports that the numbers of new cases involving the MOD opened by them in the years in question were as follows:
	2007-08: 446
	2009-10: 603
	2010-11: 610.
	The numbers of new judicial reviews in each year involving the MOD were as follows:
	2007-08: 24
	2009-10: 64
	2010-11: 74.
	I would stress, however, that analysis of the number of new cases opened in England and Wales needs to be treated with caution as, for example, large group actions are often treated as one case in these figures. In Scotland, there was only one judicial review between 2007 and 2011.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 7 November 2011, Official Report, columns 82-3W, in which I provided the numbers of staff currently employed in the five different legal sections within the MOD. We estimate that the costs of this internal legal advice for the first six months of 2011 to be in the region of £8.6 million. Not all of these staff, many of whom are uniformed, provide legal advice to the Department as the sole part of their duties.
	With regard to external legal advice commissioned in the first six months of 2011, figures are not centrally held that would help detail an accurate grand total figure. Nevertheless, I can supply the following information which reflects our major areas of legal expenditure for this period. Fees and disbursements paid to the Treasury Solicitor's department totalled £6.7 million. Sums paid to firms working for the Department's commercial framework panel totalled £2.5 million. Fees and outlays paid to the providers of legal advice to the Department in Scotland totalled £697,929. The RAF legal service also report spending £64,750 on external legal advice relating to employment tribunals during this period.

Members: Correspondence

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many letters from hon. Members to Ministers in his Department received a response within (a) seven, (b) 10, (c) 14 and (d) 21 or more working days since 11 May 2010.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) received 9,085 items of correspondence which received a ministerial response between 1 May 2010 and 31 October 2011.
	The MOD's database only provides statistics for responses to MPs, Peers, and members of the public to whom Ministers have written. The following figures therefore include all correspondence which has received a ministerial response.
	
		
			 Answered within: Number of letters 
			 Seven working days 2,868 
			 10 working days 5,124 
			 14 working days 6,652 
			 21 working days 7,737 
			 More than 21 working days 8,762 
		
	
	The MOD aims to respond to all correspondence within 15 working days of receipt. For this calendar year up to 31 October 2011, 6,861 (76%) items of correspondence were answered on time.
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to correspondence from MPs and Peers. The report for 2010 was published on 28 March 2011, Official Report, columns 1-3WS.

MOD St Athan

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the commercial use of MOD St Athan; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence is currently in discussions with the Welsh Government to consider the further use of the Red Dragon hangar.
	The Defence Infrastructure Organisation has offered the Twin Peaks hangar to the Welsh Government for use as it is no longer required for defence purposes.

Radioactive Waste

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what response his Department made to each recommendation of the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee’s Advice to Ministers on the Ministry of Defence’s Arrangements for Dealing with Radioactively Contaminated Land, August 2000; what progress was made in implementation of each recommendation; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: A copy of the Department’s response to the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee’s (RWMAC) report on dealing with radioactively contaminated land, and details of the implementation of each recommendation will be placed in the Library of the House.

RAF Personnel: Cottesmore and Kinloss

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) Royal Air Force and (b) civilian personnel have been stationed at RAF Cottesmore in each year between 2005 and 2011;
	(2)  how many (a) Royal Air Force, (b) Army and (c) civilian staff have been stationed at RAF Kinloss in each year between 2005 and 2011.

Andrew Robathan: The available information for the number of Royal Air Force (RAF) and civilian personnel employed at RAF Cottesmore and the number of RAF, Army and civilian personnel at RAF Kinloss for the period 2005 to 2011 is set out in the following table. Prior to 2007 data on the number of personnel based at certain RAF bases were not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 At April each year: 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 RAF Cottesmore        
			 RAF personnel (1)— (1)— 1,110 1,030 990 960 630 
			 MOD civilian personnel 210 210 210 200 200 210 160 
			         
			 RAF Kinloss        
			 Army personnel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 RAF personnel (1)— (1)— 1,530 1,460 1,420 1,370 1,020 
			 MOD civilian personnel 340 120 310 310 310 310 290 
			 (1) Not held Source: Defence Analytical Services and Advice (Quad-Service) Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or zero in accordance with the Data Protection Act to protect personal information and include trained and untrained personnel.

War Memorials: VAT

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) letters, (b) e-mails and (c) telephone calls his Department has received on VAT on the construction of war memorials in each of the last 12 months;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with veteran groups on VAT on the construction of war memorials.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence has received only one letter on this issue in the last 12 months.
	The Ministry of Defence has no direct responsibility in this matter but the Department for Culture, Media and Sport administer a Memorial Grant Scheme which refunds the VAT costs incurred by UK-registered charities in the construction, renovation and maintenance of memorials both in the UK and overseas. I have attended one meeting with the Minister with responsibility for tourism and heritage, my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose), and the Bomber Command Association where the issue of VAT for the Bomber Command Memorial has been discussed.

World War I: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to commemorate the centenary of the bombardment of Hartlepool on 16 December 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 November 2011, Official Report, column 84W to the hon. Member for Broadland (Mr Simpson).

SCOTLAND

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Guy Opperman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the effects of the Alcohol Act 2010 in reducing alcohol-related harm.

David Mundell: Scotland Office Ministers and officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in the Scottish Government on a range of issues including reducing alcohol-related harm.

Departmental Photographs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many official photographs have been taken of (a) Ministers and (b) senior officials in his Department for use in Government publications since May 2010; how many staff of his Department are expected to undertake photography of the ministerial and senior leadership team as part of their duties; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: No official photographs of Ministers or senior officials in the Scotland Office were taken since May 2010. Press Office staff routinely take photographs of ministerial visits and events.

Departmental Publications

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports his Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each.

David Mundell: Since May 2010, the only report published by the Scotland Office was the 2010-11 annual report of the Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland. This report cost £1,226 to publish; no design costs were incurred. No leaflets or posters have been published by the Scotland Office since May 2010.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Public Expenditure

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to reduce costs in his Department.

Owen Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office has put in place a strategy to deliver savings in line with the spending review settlement. Progress against this is regularly reviewed by the Departmental Management Board. Savings are being delivered or are planned across the business including on travel costs, accommodation costs and staff costs. For example, travel costs have been reduced by approximately £600,000 to date primarily as a result of my decision to travel to and from Northern Ireland by scheduled airline rather than by private jet which had been the practice of previous Secretaries of State.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Cattle: Exports

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle have been approved for export in each month in the last three years.

James Paice: The numbers of live cattle approved for export in each month over the last three years (2008-10) are as follows:
	
		
			 Number 
			  Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 
			 2008 866 1,655 1,142 1,510 753 1,215 1,430 127 292 201 140 701 
			              
			 2009 665 0 96 96 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			              
			 2010 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 0 14 0 
			 Notes: 1. These figures include both pure bred and non-pure bred breeding animals. 2. Data prepared by Trade Statistics, Economics and Statistics Programme, DEFRA. Source: HM Revenue and Customs.

Earth Summit 2012

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will ensure that her Department's preparations for the Rio+20 Summit in 2012 address population stabilisation and sustainable development.

James Paice: The UK Government are committed to strong, sustainable and balanced economic growth, eradicating poverty, tackling dangerous climate change, and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources.
	Economic growth is essential to raising living standards, reducing poverty, improving well-being and expanding economic and social choices. We need sustainable development to achieve all this.
	The Rio+20 summit on sustainable development (June 2012) is an opportunity to agree ambitious action which will enable us to meet the challenge of global population growth and rising income levels, while ensuring that natural resources and ecosystems are used in a sustainable way for our long-term prosperity. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), is leading the UK Government's preparations for Rio+20, working with EU and international partners.
	Lack of choice and access to family planning for many women and girls contribute to rapid population growth, which can impede economic growth and poverty reduction.
	The Government, via the Department for International Development, have committed to ensuring at least 10 million more women in developing countries have access to modern methods of family planning by 2015.

EU External Trade: Israel

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to ensure that fresh produce imports originating in Israeli settlements do not benefit from certificates of conformity with EU marketing standards issued by the Israeli authorities.

James Paice: EU rules do not allow the authorities in any third country exporter (such as Israel) to issue valid certificates of conformity with EU marketing standards for fruit and vegetables originating outside that third country (such as the west bank). The situation hypothecated by the hon. Member in respect of imports originating in Israeli settlements on the west bank cannot, therefore, arise. Although EU rules allow third countries to issue certificate of conformity with marketing standards, that does not mean that every import consignment will be accompanied by such a document, since importers can also apply for a certificate from an EU member state's authority. Moreover, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs take steps to exclude the possibility that goods of west bank origin enter the United Kingdom incorrectly described as being Israeli for preferential tariff purposes, since quite different tariff arrangements apply to these two categories of imports.

Sharks: Conservation

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the EU's proposals for a global ban on shark finning.

Richard Benyon: I warmly welcome the European Commission's robust proposals to tighten controls on shark finning for EU vessels. This represents a major step in the right direction in protecting these vulnerable species. As part of the Commission's consultation on these measures I made the UK's position very clear, and I am delighted that this has been so strongly reflected in the draft proposals. All sharks should be landed with their fins naturally attached to completely outlaw the wasteful practice of shark finning.
	The UK is leading the way in Europe on this issue, with shark finning already completely banned on all UK vessels. These proposals will bring the rest of Europe up to UK standards and enable the EU to take a strong stance on this issue internationally.
	We will work with the Commission, member states and the European Parliament to ensure that these proposals on shark finning remain strong, and will continue to press for action in international fora to end shark finning universally.

EDUCATION

16-19 Bursary Fund

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) applicants and (b) recipients there were of the 16 to 19 bursary scheme in the 2011-12 academic year.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 23 November 2011
	This is a matter for the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA)who operate the 16-19 Bursary Fund for the Department for Education. Peter Lauener, the YPLA's chief executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Peter Lauener, dated 24 November 2011
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question PQ81932 that asked:
	“How many (a) applicants and (b) recipients there were of the 16 to 19 bursary scheme in the 2011-12 academic year”.
	The 16-19 Bursary Fund was introduced in September 2011 (for the 2011/12 academic year) to help the most vulnerable 16-19 year-olds continue in full-time education. A bursary fund allocation is made direct to schools, colleges, academies, and other training providers. The fund consists of two parts - a payment of up to £1,200 to a small group of the most vulnerable students, and a discretionary fund for schools, colleges, academies, and training providers to distribute to students who face other financial barriers to staying on in education.
	Schools, colleges, academies, and training providers are responsible for determining their own criteria for eligibility for discretionary bursaries, and for deciding the level of awards. This is the first year of the scheme and therefore we do not yet hold data about the number of young people that are currently benefiting from the bursary scheme. At the end of the academic year, we will be collecting a management information return and the Department for Education has commissioned an end of year evaluation study.
	We have published details of the allocations of funding to schools, colleges and other providers, arranged by upper tier local authority, and this can be found at the following website:
	http://www.ypla.gov.uk/aboutus/ourwork/funding/allocations/

Academies

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools will have become academies by 1 September 2011; what the name is of the local authority to which each formerly belonged; how many pupils are on the roll of each; how much each received (i) in total and (ii) per capita in (A) local authority central spend equivalent grant and (B) special educational needs funding in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much each is to receive from the Young Persons Learning Agency in respect of (1) insurance and (2) conversion grant.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 5 September 2011
	As of 1 October, 1031 schools had converted to academy status, of which 288 were primary schools, 708 secondary schools, 21 middle deemed secondary and 14 special schools.
	Full details of schools that have formally applied for academy status, as well as a list of academies that have opened in the academic year 2010/11, can be found on the DFE academies website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies/a0069811/schools-submitting-applications-and-academies-that-have-opened-in-201011
	A copy of a table giving, for each academy that has converted to an academy by 1 September 2011 as per the original request, a breakdown of pupil numbers, funding received and funding projected has been placed in the House Libraries. Please note that the financial information provided in the table does not include the October figures and is unaudited, and therefore subject to change.
	In certain respects the information given for September 2011 converters is incomplete. This is because it was not recorded by all local authorities on their section 251 returns, and so is being collected separately. This may lead to some adjustment of the academies' allocations for academic year 2011/12.
	The Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant (LACSEG) is the additional money to cover those central services that the LA no longer provides. LACSEG is an ongoing grant. It is calculated using data from local authority budget statements and reflects local decisions about how funding is prioritised and delegated to schools. This ensures that academies are funded on the same basis as local maintained schools.
	Ministers are determined to have a funding system that is fairer, so that a school or academy in one area will have comparable funding to a school or academy with similar circumstances in another area. In a new funding system, we would be much clearer about the functions we expect local authorities to provide for maintained schools but which would transfer to academies.
	There is no pre-determined amount of funding provided to academies for insurance. The cost of insurance is paid by the academy and the costs of buildings and contents, employer's and public liability and business interruption insurance is reimbursed by the Young People's Learning Agency on provision of a valid invoice.

Members: Correspondence

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Minister of State for Children and Families will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Coventry South of 25 October 2011.

Tim Loughton: The Minister for Children and Families, the hon. Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather), replied to the hon. Member on 23 November. The hon. Member's constituent also wrote directly to the Department on 23 October and 4 November on the same issue, and the Department responded on 3 November and 17 November respectively.

Primary Education: Bristol

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to provide funding for an increase in primary school places in Bristol from 2013.

Nick Gibb: Last year the Department announced capital funding of £800 million in 2011-12 for the provision of pupil places. Bristol city council's share of this ‘basic need' allocation was £9.36 million and we have stated that local authorities can expect similar levels of funding from 2012-13 through to 2014-15. An announcement about capital programmes and allocations from 2012-13 will be made in due course.
	Earlier this year, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced a further £500 million of capital funding in 2011-12 for those areas where rising pupil numbers are leading to the greatest pressure for school places. Bristol city council has been allocated a further £18.32 million from this fund. Basic need funding is not ring-fenced, in order to give local authorities flexibility over the timing of spend.

Pupil Exclusions

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils were excluded for (a) physical and (b) verbal abuse or assault by constituency in the latest year for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The requested information has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Any violence or verbal abuse in .school is totally unacceptable. The terms ‘physical assault' and ‘verbal abuse', as collected in the school census, cover a range of offences. Full details on the reasons for exclusion covered under each of these terms are published as part of the Schools Census Guidance. The latest guidance can be found at the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schooladmin/a0076969/school-census-2012

Pupils: Absenteeism

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils were absent from school for at least (a) 10 per cent., (b) 15 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent. of the school year in each (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency, in the latest year for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The requested information has been placed in the House Libraries.

Schools: Higher Education

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of schools and colleges are officially linked to at least one higher education institution in England.

Nick Gibb: The total number of schools and colleges which have official links to higher education institutions in England is not known.
	University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are being set up to provide 14 to 19-year-olds with a high quality technical education through partnerships with universities and employers. Two UTCs have already been opened and 17 are currently in the development phase. All have their own university partner.
	Many more schools will have links to higher education institutions for various reasons, including the delivery of initial teacher training courses. However, no records are kept of the number of schools involved.

Schools: Industrial Disputes

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will estimate the number of students in Pendle constituency that would be affected by strike action on 30 November 2011.

Nick Gibb: While the Department has asked local authorities to provide an estimate of school closures on 30 November, it is not possible to predict at this time the number of pupils in any particular area who might by affected by industrial action.

Schools: Rural Areas

Daniel Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that small rural schools are not adversely affected by future pupil funding reviews.

Nick Gibb: Our recent consultation on reforming the school funding system looked carefully at how rural schools should be supported. The Department for Education is considering responses to the consultation and discussing options with interested parties, including those who represent rural areas, before we decide how to proceed. We aim to consult on more detailed proposals in the spring.

Secondary Education: Finance

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the total funding is for 11-16 education (a) in total and (b) per capita in (i) Birmingham, (ii) Newcastle, (iii) Wakefield, (iv) Manchester, (v) Leeds, (vi) Liverpool, (vii) Coventry, (viii) Bristol, (ix) Sheffield, (x) Bradford, (xi) Leicester and (xii) Nottingham in each of the next five years.

Nick Gibb: There are no detailed allocations planned on a local authority basis for the next five years. The Spending Review announced total schools funding of:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2012-13 36,970 
			 2013-14 37,977 
			 2014-15 39,023 
		
	
	Per pupil funding for each local authority for 2012-13 will be announced shortly. School funding allocations for local authorities for 2012-13 are dependent on pupil numbers recorded in the January 2012 schools census. Allocations to local authorities from 2013-14 onwards are dependent on Government decisions on school funding reform.

Teachers: Pensions

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2011, Official Report, column 562W, on teachers: pensions, when the (a) detailed consideration of the implications of the new discount rate will finish and (b) revaluation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme be published.

Nick Gibb: The Government announced in the Budget in 2011 that the appropriate discount rate for calculating unfunded public service pension contribution rates should be based on the long-term expectations of gross domestic product (GDP) growth. A discount rate of 3% above CPI will therefore be adopted.
	The discount rate feeds into scheme valuations, which are currently suspended. Valuations of public service pension schemes, including the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, are dependent on many assumptions which are currently under review as part of discussions on implementing Lord Hutton’s proposals. It would not, therefore, be a sensible use of public funds to undertake actuarial valuations at this time.

JUSTICE

Armed Forces Covenant

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how his Department plans to (a) interpret and (b) apply the Military Covenant under the terms of the Armed Forces Act 2010.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Armed Forces Act 2011 places a specific requirement on the Secretary of State for Defence to report on the effects of the operation of inquests on service personnel and others in the annual covenant report.
	The Ministry of Justice will work closely with the Ministry of Defence in preparing this report, as well as continuing to work closely with the MOD's Defence Inquests Unit on day-to-day matters regarding investigations into deaths of service personnel.

Food Procurement

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that the same standards of animal welfare for whole eggs apply to imported liquefied eggs procured by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible;
	(2)  what proportion of food sourced by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible was procured from UK food producers in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what steps (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible are taking to ensure that they meet the Government's buying standards for food and catering.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) supports the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in achieving full compliance with UK egg industry legislation.
	(a) In accordance with EU Council Directive 1999/74/EC, which prohibits the use of conventional cages from 1 January 2012, the Department has ensured that all egg-producing birds are from improved enriched colonies. The Department's supplier of foodstuff to Her Majesty's Prison Service, which accounts for 99.6% of direct food procurement within the Ministry of Justice, became compliant in 2010. The Department does not purchase liquefied eggs under the current foodstuff contract.
	All egg products supplied to the MOJ must comply with the relevant UK and EU legislation. Suppliers are required to provide products that are sourced in compliance with EC regulations and from assured providers under animal welfare conditions that are compatible with the UK animal welfare regulations.
	(b) Information regarding public bodies is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is committed to the Government Buying Standards (GBS) for food. This encourages the public sector to procure food in a manner that promotes sustainable development and does not discriminate against local suppliers and UK producers.
	(a) For the latest period for which figures are available, the proportion of domestically-produced food used (by value) is approximately 56%.
	The Department and its contractors continue to look for opportunities to enable domestic producers to compete for supply contracts while seeking to achieve value for money. The Department encourages its suppliers to procure food from UK producers where possible.
	(b) Information regarding public bodies is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is committed to be compliant with the GBS for food and catering.
	The Department's suppliers are obligated to source in line with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) policy on GBS to ensure supply achieves value for money.
	Examples where the Department meets the mandatory food and catering services standards include the following:
	(1) Animal welfare: 100% of eggs (in shell) sourced from systems that do not use conventional cages. If from a caged system, enriched cages are used.
	(2) Fish: 100% seafood procured compliant with sustainability standards indicated by Marine Conservation Society's or Marine Stewardship Councils list of fish to eat.
	(3) Recycling: There is a mandatory agreement for prisons which account for 99.6% of direct food spend within the Department for the disposal of waste oils and fats through the controlled waste regulations.
	(4) All new contracts are tendered to reflect GBS policy.
	(b) Information regarding public bodies is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Legal Aid Scheme

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what overall assessment rating the Regulatory Policy Committee gave for the impact assessments on the proposed reforms to legal aid.

Jonathan Djanogly: The impact assessments on the proposed reforms of legal aid were not sent to the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) for external scrutiny. Legal aid arrangements are contractual arrangements between the Ministry of Justice and lawyers and the impact assessments are therefore not within scope for scrutiny by the RPC.

Parole

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many cases before the Parole Board were awaiting a hearing on 1 January in each year between 1996-97 and 2010-11 inclusive;
	(2)  in how many cases of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences the Parole Board (a) directed release, (b) did not direct release and (c) adjourned or deferred a decision in each year from 2004-05 to 2010-11 inclusive.

Crispin Blunt: Figures for years prior to 2009-10 are not available as the Parole Board did not record total number of cases awaiting a hearing in these years.
	Details of the cases awaiting hearing that are available are in the following table.
	
		
			 As at 1 January each year Cases awaiting a hearing 
			 2009 2,237 
			 2010 1,702 
			 2011(1) 1,366 
			 (1) Projected. 
		
	
	Indeterminate prisoners are made up of prisoners receiving a “life” sentence ‘or’ an indeterminate sentence (IPP) for public protection (1PP).
	The following tables outline the changes in cases referred to the Parole Board for either category.
	
		
			 Life sentence prisoners 
			  Cases considered Release directed Did not direct release Adjourned or deferred 
			 2004-05 1,341 290 896 155 
			 2005-06 1,195 270 723 202 
			 2006-07 1,421 207 830 384 
			 2007-08 1,423 207 937 270 
			 2008-09 1,272 194 852 226 
			 2009-10 1,530 172 1,171 187 
			 2010-11 2,152 330 1,550 272 
		
	
	
		
			 IPP prisoners 
			  Cases considered Release directed Did not direct release Adjourned or deferred 
			 2004-05 0 — — — 
			 2005-06 0 — — — 
			 2006-07 74 6 44 24 
			 2007-08 253 17 192 44 
			 2008-09 556 43 390 123 
			 2009-10 1,432 68 1,197 167 
			 2010-11 2,261 140 1,901 220

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of work capability assessment decisions made by Atos were overturned on appeal in (a) Wales and (b) Newport East constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jonathan Djanogly: Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) (decisions in which the work capability assessment is a key factor) rather than appeals against work capability assessment decisions themselves.
	The following tables show the proportion of employment and support allowance appeals cleared at hearing, which were found in favour of the appellant in (a) Wales and (b) the Langstone venue in September 2011 (the latest date for which statistics have been published) and in the first two quarters of 2011-12. The Langstone Tribunal venue hears appeals from the Newport East constituency as well as other nearby locations.
	
		
			 Outcomes of ESA (WCA-related) appeals,  1  to 30 September 2011 
			  Number  of  cases cleared at hearing Number of DWP decisions upheld Percentage upheld Number decided in favour of appellant Percentage in favour Other Percentage other 
			 Wales 840 450 50 390 50 4 0 
			 Langstone 30 20 70 10 30 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Outcomes of ESA (WCA-related) appeals, 1 April to 30 September 2011 
			  Number of cases cleared at hearing Number of DWP decisions upheld Percentage upheld Number decided in favour of appellant Percentage in favour Other Percentage other 
			 Wales 4,600 2,600 60 2,000 40 30 0 
			 Langstone 320 190 60 130 40 3 0 
			 Note: The data are taken from management information.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether he has made an estimate of the amount of revenue lost to the creative industries due to free pitching in the last five years; if he will estimate the likely losses over the comprehensive spending review period; and what steps he is taking to eliminate this practice.

Edward Vaizey: The Department has not made any assessment of free pitching along these lines, and the advertising industry has not put this forward as one of its top concerns. If it wishes to do so in future, the creative industries council would be the right forum to do so. In general we are in favour of industry setting out guidelines for its own best working practices.

Arts Council England

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport which organisations in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Birmingham received Arts Council England funding in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Vaizey: In the financial year 2010-11, 609 organisations in the West Midlands region received either regular funding or funding through the “Grants for the Arts” programme from Arts Council England. Applicants can apply for up to £100,000 for regional activity, or above with prior permission.
	In the financial year 2010-11, 203 organisations in the local authority region of Birmingham received either regular funding or funding through the “Grants for the Arts” programme.
	The names of these organisations will be deposited in the Library of both Houses.

Cricket: Disability

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what funding his Department and incorporated public bodies have allocated to support disabled people to play cricket between 2009 and 2013; and on what projects such funding has been spent to date.

Hugh Robertson: As the National Governing Body for cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has spent around £1,217,580 on disability cricket since funding was awarded in 2009. Of this, £608,709 is Sport England funding and £608,709 the ECB’s own funding.
	As part of the ECB's commitment to develop disability cricket it has recently set up regional training camps for the deaf and launched a Visually Impaired Talent Development programme. The ECB has set out its strategy for disability cricket in the document ‘Disability Cricket Vision 2009-2013’ which can be found at the following link:
	http://static.ecb.co.uk/files/ecb-disability-cricket-vision-2009-2013-10730.pdf
	Also, the ECB is one of the signatories of the Voluntary Code of Conduct for Sports Broadcasting, which aims to encourage the reinvestment of revenues from television broadcasting rights of major sporting events to community sport. The ECB is planning to commit expenditure into grassroots development that amounts to more than 30% of its net UK TV broadcasting revenue.

Departmental Civil Proceedings

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  which organisations that have received funding from his Department have brought legal proceedings against his Department in the last five years; which such organisations were not successful in their actions; and whether his Department (a) applied and (b) was paid for costs in respect of such cases;
	(2)  what his policy is on (a) the recovery of legal costs from failed applicants for judicial review and (b) enforcement of any such recovery; and whether any exceptions apply.

John Penrose: The information requested on funded organisations that brought proceedings against this Department in the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. The Department does not record centrally the number of unsuccessful cases applied for and costs paid.
	Where the Department is entitled to recover costs from a person who was unsuccessful in bringing a challenge, the policy is to do so. Where a challenge is abandoned part way through, there is often no entitlement to recover costs.

Food Procurement

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that the same standards of animal welfare for whole eggs apply to imported liquefied eggs procured by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible;
	(2)  what proportion of food sourced by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible was procured from UK food producers in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what steps (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible are taking to ensure that they meet the Government's buying standards for food and catering.

John Penrose: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Mr Bain), on 4 March 2011, Official Report, columns 611-12W.

Procurement

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what procedures his Department has put in place to ensure value for money on purchases; and what savings have been identified using those procedures in the last year.

Edward Vaizey: The Department is fully committed to Government policy on procurement which has two basic objectives:
	To achieve continuing improvement in value for money based on whole life cost and quality
	To enhance the competitiveness of suppliers through the development of procurement systems and practices
	We follow the Transparency regulations in order to maximise competition. Also, we ensure that all procurements that can be advertised with a value of £10,000 are advertised via the Contracts Finder website and then tendered via BIP—Delta (an e-procurement tool).
	Further information about the Department's procurement policy can be found at:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/working_with_us/973.aspx
	The Government have announced a specific and innovative approach to efficiency and reform across the public sector which means that Departments are no longer required to report against efficiency targets. The Department does not, therefore, specifically record savings secured through its procurement process.

Design: Government Assistance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to assist design companies to secure work with international clients.

Edward Vaizey: The design industry is one of the UK's strengths, and something which we are already renowned for across the world. Design is a priority sector for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), which has a programme in place to assist UK design companies wishing to expand into overseas markets. This includes running a series of overseas trade missions to priority markets such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Mexico this year. In addition, Lord Marland recently led missions to China and Brazil to coincide with the Beijing and Brazil Design Weeks. UKTI also supports groups of design companies wishing to exhibit at key overseas trade fairs such as the Milan Furniture Fair, Maison et Objet in Paris and International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York, and works closely with industry bodies, such as British Design Innovation and the Design Business Association, to ensure that design companies are well informed about overseas opportunities.

UK School Games

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the future role of UK School Games; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The sixth and final UK School Games took place in Sheffield over 1-4 September this year. The new School Games national finals will continue, and build on, the tradition of a multi-sport, multi-day national event for elite young athletes. The first School Games national finals will take place over 6-9 May 2012.

UK School Games

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what information his Department holds on how many records were set at UK School Games at (a) national and (b) international level in each year since the Games began; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: Record times or performances could be measured only in the sports of athletics, cycling and swimming, as performance was measured in different ways in the other sports that made up the UK School Games (which had expanded to 12 sports by 2011 from the original five in 2007). Records set included:
	one world record
	two junior world records
	five junior national records.

UK School Games

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many school children participated in UK School Games at (a) intra-school (b) inter-school, (c) county and (d) national level in each school year since the Games began; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The UK School Games was an annual national event that ran from 2006 to 2011. The number of school children participating at each event was:
	Glasgow 2006: 1,100
	Coventry 2007: 1,350
	Bristol and Bath 2008: 1,470
	South Wales 2009: 1,523
	Newcastle 2010: 1,530
	Sheffield 2011: 1,580.

UK School Games

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what evaluation he has made of the role of UK School Games in increasing participation in (a) sport and (b) competitive sport; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The UK School Games succeeded in its objective of being an excellent showcase event for elite young athletes. However, I am committed to giving children of all ages and abilities the opportunity to participate in competitive sport through the new School Games, reviving the culture of competitive sport in schools.

UK School Games

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with the partners of UK School Games regarding future participation in school sports; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: To deliver the new School Games, I am working with a range of national partners, including Sport England, ParalympicsGB, the Department of Health, the Department for Education and the Youth Sport Trust, which was responsible for delivery of the UK School Games.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Armed Forces: Young People

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the range and level of educational qualifications offered to armed forces recruits aged 16 to 18 and their conformity with the minimum standards recommended by the Wolf Review of Vocational Education.

Nicholas Clegg: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister with responsibility for schools, the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb), on 28 November 2011, Official Report, column 704W.

Departmental Domestic Visits

David Crausby: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many times he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Nicholas Clegg: I have made 31 regional visits between 1 November 2010 and 25 November 2011. I have also made many other regional visits in my capacity as a party leader. The breakdown of official visits by region can be found as follows:
	
		
			 Region/nation Frequency 
			 East 2 
			 East midlands 3 
			 Isle of Man 1 
			 North-east 2 
			 North-west 3 
			 Northern Ireland 0 
			 Scotland 2 
			 South-east 2 
			 South-west 1 
			 Wales 1 
			 West midlands 6 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 8 
			 Total number of visits 31

CABINET OFFICE

Business: Closures

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many businesses in (a) Preston constituency and (b) Lancashire have ceased trading since 1 June 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many businesses in (a) Preston constituency and (b) Lancashire have ceased trading since 1 June 2010.
	Annual statistics on the number of enterprise deaths are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	However, unfortunately these statistics are only available up to the calendar year 2009. The results for 2010 will be released on 6th December 2011.

Procurement

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many contracts his Department has awarded directly to (a) small, (b) medium-sized and (c) large businesses in each month since May 2010; what the value was of such contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The information in the format requested is not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Since January 2011 the Cabinet Office has awarded the following contracts above the value of £10,000 which have been published on Contracts Finder.
	www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk
	
		
			  Small and medium sized enterprise Large enterprise 
			 Month Number Maximum value (£) Number Maximum value (£) 
			 January 0 n/a 2 (1)50,000,000 
			     118,000 
			      
			 February 1 30,000 0 n/a 
			      
			 March 3 4,876,853 6 100,000 
			   30,456  98,488 
			   24,840  15,000 
			     41,190 
			     112,979 
			     (2)0 
			      
			 April 7 454,000 2 25,000 
			   13,725  1,000,000 
			   56,015   
			   52,917   
			   67,989   
			   80,000   
			   26,170   
			      
		
	
	
		
			 May 1 37,913 1 38,000 
			      
			 June 2 40,000 1 18,909 
			   24,000   
			      
			 July 0 n/a 3 15,540 
			     44,750 
			     (1)400,000,000 
			      
			 August 2 51,540 3 12,000 
			   (3)1,200,000  108,420 
			     93,285 
			      
			 September 4 63,000 5 100,760 
			   15,600  55,000 
			   84,000  250,000 
			   84,000  75,000 
			     18,432 
			      
			 October 1 (1)1,500,000 0 n/a 
			 (1 )Represents estimated total value of pan-government business. (2 )No value attributed. Actual value will depend on the amount of demand for the services supplied through the contract. (3 )Represents estimated value of business placed through framework covering six suppliers, one of which is a large enterprise.

Procurement

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what procedures his Department has put in place to ensure value for money on purchases; and what savings have been identified using those procedures in the last year.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office ensures value for money on its purchases through the use of pan-government deals for relevant goods and services that have been set up by the Government Procurement Service (GPS) and other Departments to enable it to exploit the benefits of Government's aggregated purchasing power in order to achieve better prices. Further savings are expected to be realised from the Government-wide efficiency programmes which the Cabinet Office has initiated, including:
	the centralising of all common commodity procurement through contracts awarded and managed by GPS to maximise public sector buying power;
	the re-negotiation of deals with Government's largest suppliers; and
	the use of the Dynamic Marketplace for lower value procurements which will open up opportunities for SMEs to win Government business.
	Savings achieved have contributed to a reduction in the Department’s procurement expenditure overall between 2009-10 and 2010-11 of almost 3%.

Government Departments: Finance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on the cross-Government review of advice funding in which other Government Departments are involved; which advice organisations have been consulted; and when the review will report its findings.

Nick Hurd: The Government announced on 21 November that the Cabinet Office would be conducting a review to ensure that people continue to have access to good quality free advice services in their communities.
	Work has now started on the review which will conclude early next year with recommendations to Ministers, and will build on work that has already been done. The review is considering the funding environment for free advice services, likely levels of demand, and how Government can play a positive role.
	In conducting the review, the Cabinet Office is seeking the input of a wide range of advice sector stakeholders including national and local advice organisations, representative bodies, umbrella organisations for the sector, and other organisations that play an influential role in determining the landscape of free advice provision. We are doing this through individual stakeholder meetings, roundtable discussions with key sector representatives, and by taking account of recent, relevant research in this area.

National School of Government

Andrew Miller: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  whether the National School of Government's information security “Protecting Information” course includes training in the (a) use of privacy panels and (b) circumstances when privacy screen panels should be used;
	(2)  whether the National School of Government provides visual data security training;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 22 June 2011, Official Report, column 368W, on Departmental Data Protection, what guidance the Cabinet Office issues to other Government Departments on (a) the use of data privacy panels and (b) training in the circumstances in which privacy screen panels should be used;
	(4)  whether the Government have undertaken an evaluation of the risks posed by visual data security breaches across central Government Departments.

Francis Maude: The Cross Government Data Handling Review 2008 requires that all civil servants undergo data security training on an annual basis. This training can be given through a variety of ways including:
	induction courses;
	regular briefing and training events;
	articles on Departments' intranet sites;
	awareness campaigns; and
	intermittent reminders as and when considered necessary.
	Visual data security is one element of the National School of Government “Introduction to Information Assurance” course, and is specifically covered under IS1 Risk Assessment Process as part of the “Information Assurance Standards IS1 and IS2” course. The National School of Government website also hosts the Cabinet Office sponsored e-learning course “Protecting Information” which includes a number of different ‘role dependent' modules.
	The Government have a number of measures in place to safeguard sensitive and/or protectively marked (classified) information. The Cabinet Office co-ordinates protective security policy for the whole of Government including the rules, procedures and technical controls required to ensure the protection of sensitive information. Mandatory requirements and best practice guidelines are set out in the HMG Security Policy Framework at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/spf.aspx
	The framework includes guidance to reduce the risk that sensitive information could be overlooked when laptops or other media devices are used in open plan office environments or public spaces.
	Security policy officials and the national technical authorities keep all security threats under constant review and the Security Policy Framework guidelines are regularly updated.

Public Houses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many public houses (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally have closed in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many public houses (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally have closed in each of the last five years.
	Annual statistics on the number of enterprise deaths are available from 2002 onwards in the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	ONS has no statistics of pubs, however, the table below contains the latest statistics which show the number of enterprise deaths in the constituency of Jarrow, district of South Tyneside, North East region and the UK classified to public houses/bars.
	
		
			 Count of enterprise deaths classified to public houses/bars from 2005 - 09 
			  Jarrow South Tyneside North-east United Kingdom 
			 2005 10 20 405 9,080 
			 2006 10 20 335 7,915 
			 2007 10 20 340 7,900 
			 2008 10 20 360 7,325 
			 2009 10 20 315 7,725 
			 Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, to avoid disclosure.

Public Houses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many public houses have been owned by a pub company (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many public houses have been owned by a pub company (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally in each of the last five years,
	ONS does not produce statistics on the number of public houses owned by a pub company. Annual statistics on the number of enterprise births, deaths and survivals are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk

Public Houses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many public houses owned by a pub company (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally have closed in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many public houses owned by a pub company (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally have closed in each of the last five years.
	ONS does not produce statistics on the number of public houses owned by a pub company. Annual statistics on the number of enterprise births, deaths and survivals are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk

Public Houses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many public houses there are (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the north-east and (d) nationally.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many public houses there are (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally.
	Annual statistics on the number of enterprise actives are available from 2002 onwards in the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	ONS has no statistics on pubs, however, the following table contains the latest statistics, which show the number of active enterprises, in the constituency of Jarrow, district of South Tyneside, North East region and the UK, classified to public houses/bars.
	
		
			 Count of active enterprises classified to public houses/bars from 2005 to 2009 
			  Jarrow South Tyneside North East United Kingdom 
			 2005 50 120 2,145 52,600 
			 2006 50 120 2,060 51,590 
			 2007 55 120 2,130 51,720 
			 2008 50 120 1,995 48,150 
			 2009 45 105 1,815 45,580 
			 Note: The above figures have been rounded to the nearest five, to avoid disclosure

Public Houses

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many tied publicans (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally have managed their pub for more than three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many tied publicans (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the North East and (d) nationally have managed their pub for more than three years.
	ONS does not produce statistics on the number of tied publicans. Annual statistics on the number of enterprise births, deaths and survivals are available from the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk

Public Sector: Equality

Graham Brady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of equality and diversity training in the public sector in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will take steps to encourage efficiency savings of such expenditure.

Francis Maude: Information on the cost of equality and diversity training across the public sector as a whole is not held centrally.
	However the Government have taken steps to reduce the cost of generic learning and development by launching Civil Service Learning, a cross-Government resource that will centrally procure all generic learning and development for the civil service.
	Equality and diversity training is part of this provision. As we continue to establish Civil Service Learning, an e-learning course will be provided to cover this area for all civil servants. No specific costs were incurred as it has been developed in-house by staff in HMRC.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Carers

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to protect the livelihoods of carers.

Maria Miller: The Government recognise and appreciate the important role of carers.
	Financial support for carers is provided through the social security benefits system. The main benefit available to carers is carer's allowance, which provides a measure of support for people who are unable to undertake full-time paid employment because of their caring responsibilities. With the introduction of the Welfare Reform Bill, the Government announced that carer's allowance will continue to exist as a separate benefit providing an independent income for carers and recognition of the role they play. Carer's allowance is currently paid at £55.55 a week.
	In addition to carer's allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as income support and pension credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate through the carer premium or the equivalent additional amount for carers respectively, both currently worth up to £31.00 a week.
	From 2013, we are introducing universal credit, an integrated benefit which will be payable whether or not people are in work. Above a disregard of earnings, the universal credit award will reduce gradually as earnings increase, due to the single earnings taper. The universal credit award will include a carer element which will continue for as long as the carer provides care for at least 35 hours per week for a severely disabled person. The carer element will continue to be included in the universal credit award when carer's allowance ceases because someone's earnings take them above the level for carer's allowance, which is currently £100.00 a week net of certain expenses.

Crisis Loans

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the April 2011 changes to crisis loans for general living expenses, excluding alignment payments, on annual expenditure on crisis loans for general living expenses, excluding alignment payments in 2011-12 and 2012-13;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the April 2011 changes to crisis loans for items on annualised expenditure on crisis loans for items in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Steve Webb: The limit of three awards for general living expenses in a rolling 12 month period that was introduced in April 2011 will not have had full effect until after April 2012. Expenditure on general living expenses will therefore continue to reduce.
	The forecast expenditure on awards for items or services following a disaster and general living expenses for the financial year 2011-12 is £60 million. At present we are not able to provide separate forecasts.
	Detailed modelling for the next financial year has not been completed, but it is estimated that the total expenditure on general living expenses and items or services following a disaster will be under £36 million in 2012-13.

Crisis Loans

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding arrangements are intended to replace crisis loans for (a) rent in advance and (b) items after localisation.

Steve Webb: Discretionary housing payments can already be used to help people on housing benefit or council tax benefit to pay for rent in advance. The funding for discretionary housing payments has been increased by £130 million over the current spending review period.
	Since April this year a crisis loan for items can only be awarded following a disaster such as flooding. From April 2013 the current funding of £178.2 million per annum for the discretionary social fund will be apportioned nationally between England, Scotland and Wales. The funding for items following a disaster is included in this amount.
	Budgeting loans and universal credit budgeting advances will also be available to eligible recipients. These can be used to purchase replacement white goods and household items or for rent in advance.

Crisis Loans

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 15 November 2011, Official Report, column 719W, on crisis loans, in how many cases loans have been made to meet the interest payments on a loan which had been taken out by a person now on benefits when an endowment policy accompanying a mortgage matures but does not provide sufficient funds to pay off the balance of that mortgage in each of the last two years in each Jobcentre Plus budget area.

Steve Webb: A crisis loan cannot be awarded to pay the interest payments on another loan. As set out in my previous answer of 15 November 2011, Official Report, column 719W, support may be available through support for mortgage interest payments to claimants of income-related benefits.
	Crisis loans are only available to meet day to day living expenses for a short period, rent in advance, or, following a disaster such as flooding, the cost of essential household items. A crisis loan must be the only means of avoiding serious risk or damage to the health or safety of the applicant or their family.

Consultants

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland on (i) personnel costs and (ii) consultants in each year since 1997.

Chris Grayling: Spend is not recorded on a geographical basis. DWP does not record spend for Government Offices in Northern Ireland.
	(i) DWP has spent the following amounts on total net staff costs in each year since 2003-04 as follows:
	
		
			  Average number of whole-time equivalent persons employed £ million 
			 2003-04 134,318 2,943.85 
			 2004-05 131,998 3,099.84 
		
	
	
		
			 2005-06 122,215 3,214.57 
			 2006-07 116,005 3,126.63 
			 2007-08 109,462 3,140.62 
			 2008-09 108,058 3,108.84 
			 2009-10 118,465 3,504.12 
			 2010-11 115,846 3,487.32 
			 Source: DWP published annual accounts 
		
	
	(ii) DWP has spent the following amounts on Management Consultancy Services and Contingent Labour in each year since 2003-04 when our records began:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Consultancy Services Contingent Labour (1) 
			 2003-04 306.72 50.93 
			 2004-05 168.37 33.65 
			 2005-06 130.29 43.86 
			 2006-07 162.62 66.68 
			 2007-08 76.48 36.90 
			 2008-09 95.18 60.79 
			 2009-10 72.08 59.04 
			 2010-11 18.24 27.61 
			 (1) Contingent Labour includes Interim Managers and Specialist Contractors who fill professional or specialist roles where resource or expertise is not available in-house.

Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the definition of work under the Work programme will be changed after the change to the working hours limits for working tax credit in April 2012.

Chris Grayling: The change to the working hours limits for working tax credit in April 2012 does not affect the definition of work under the Work programme. In order to qualify for a job outcome payment and subsequent sustainment payments a Work programme participant must be in employment and off benefit for the length of time specified for their participant group. The Department has not specified the number of hours a participant must work each week for employment to count towards Work programme outcomes—the key criteria are simply that the participant is in employment and off benefit.

Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish data on referrals and job outcomes for (a) tier 1, (b) tier 2 and (c) voluntary and community sector providers (i) across the whole work programme and (ii) by individual contract package area in (A) April and (B) October 2012.

Chris Grayling: The exact details of what we will publish has still to be decided as it is dependent on the availability and quality of the data. However, we hope to be able to publish data by contract package area.

Employment Schemes: Apprentices

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Work programme job outcomes were the result of placement on an apprenticeship.

Chris Grayling: The Department intends to publish official statistics on referrals to the Work programme from spring 2012 and on job outcomes from autumn 2012. This is in line with guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure published statistics meet the required high quality standards.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from Work programme providers on the proportion of referrals to the programme of people in receipt of employment and support allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: The Department is implementing some process changes to the Work programme in response to feedback received from organisations on the level of referrals from people in receipt of employment and support allowance (ESA). These changes aim to maximise the number of ESA claimants joining provision and are also in line with providers' requests to have more influence over their engagement with individuals.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of referrals to the Work programme have been of people in receipt of employment and support allowance in each month since June 2011.

Chris Grayling: The Department intends to publish official statistics on referrals to the Work programme from spring 2012 and on job outcomes from autumn 2012. This is in line with guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure published statistics meet the required high quality standards.

Social Exclusion

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the effect of his proposals for welfare reform on people experiencing multiple sources of deprivation.

Chris Grayling: Full impact assessments on the measures contained within the Welfare Reform Bill have been conducted and kept up to date. These are available at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/impact-assessments-and-equality/
	As set out in the relevant impact assessment, universal credit will reduce the number of individuals in poverty.
	Greater simplicity will lead to a substantial increase in the take-up of currently unclaimed benefits, with most of the impact being at the lower end of the income distribution. The changes to entitlement are estimated to increase average weekly net income in the bottom two income deciles by £3 and £4 per week respectively. After accounting for imperfect take-up in the current system and improved take-up under universal credit, the gain for the bottom two deciles increases to £11 and £10 per week respectively. On reasonable assumptions, the combined impact of take-up and entitlements will lift around 900,000 individuals out of poverty, including more than 350,000 children and around 550,000 working-age adults. These poverty impacts exclude the positive impacts of more people moving into work.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) disability living allowance and (c) employment support allowance benefit claims there were subsequently proved to be unsubstantiated in the last year for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: Please note that incapacity benefit was replaced by employment and support allowance (ESA) for new claims from October 2008. The reassessment of incapacity benefit claimants for eligibility for employment and support allowance started in April 2011 and is expected to end in 2014.
	Information on the number of incapacity benefits claimants being reassessed for ESA using the work capability assessment (WCA) is not available. Due to the overall length of the incapacity benefits reassessment process, information on the process including the final outcomes, subsequent destinations of claimants being reassessed and appeals is not yet available. Individual level data are being collected, but it will take time to complete because of the overall length of the reassessment process. The Department plans to publish data on the outcomes of the reassessment process but only once they have been quality assured and are considered robust.
	The number of disability living allowance (DLA) new claim decisions made from April 2010 to March 2011 was 453,000 and 257,000 (57%) were rejected. The total rejected on medical grounds was 256,000 and 1,000 were rejected because the DLA eligibility criteria was not satisfied.
	The Department regularly publishes information on employment support allowance and the work capability assessment. The latest report was published in October 2011 and can be found on the departmental website here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_wca
	Table 2 in the above publication shows that there were 447,500 new ESA claims that underwent an initial WCA between June 2010 and May 2011 (the latest data available), of these 265,000 (59%) were found fit for work.
	Notes:
	1. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest percentage point and numbers of cases have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
	2. Disability living allowance data are sourced from Department for Work and Pensions, RDA60209 and RDA60205 reports—DLA Management Information Statistics.
	3. Employment and support allowance data are sourced from Atos Healthcare and DWP departmental administrative data.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Aerospace Industry: Research

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support research and development in the aerospace sector.

Mark Prisk: Technology is an important strand of work for the Aerospace Growth Partnership, which I co-chair with Marcus Bryson, CEO of GKN Aerospace. The focus of the Technology Working Group is on identifying the key technologies that will help position the UK aerospace industry to secure high value work on new aircraft programmes.
	In July 2011, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) announced £10 million of research and development (R and D) grants for the Next Generation Vertical Lift programme, led by AgustaWestland, encompassing three projects focusing on main and tail rotor blades, transmission systems and flight trials. This is in addition to the £300 million invested by the TSB over the past four years on collaborative research and technology programmes such as ‘Next Generation Composite Wing' led by Airbus, and ‘SILOET (Strategic Investment in Low Carbon Engine Technology) led by Rolls-Royce.
	We are also supporting the development of new aircraft programmes such as the Airbus A350 XWB and Bombardier CSeries aircraft with Repayable Launch Investment—with commitments for these programmes totalling around £514 million.
	The aerospace sector will benefit from the creation of the High Value Manufacturing Technology and Innovation Centre (HVM TIC) network. Established and overseen by the Technology Strategy Board, the HVM TIC will provide an integrated capability and embrace all forms of manufacture using metals and composites, in addition to process manufacturing technologies and bio-processing.

Apprentices

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what sanctions exist for companies that do not fulfil their obligations in respect of young people enrolled on recognised apprenticeship schemes;
	(2)  what steps he has taken to ensure that employers who enrol young people on a recognised apprenticeship scheme fulfil their obligations with regard to those young people; and what sanctions they are liable to if they fail to do so.

John Hayes: holding answer 25 November 2011
	Following the Apprenticeships, Children, Schools and Learning Act (2009), all apprentices must be employed throughout their apprenticeship programme. Their employers have exactly the same obligations and sanctions as other employers, including responsibility for safeguarding young people.
	Employers can include details about the apprenticeship and any entitlements, for example study time, within the contract of employment.

Apprentices

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will assess the merits of subsidising wage costs from the public purse for apprentices aged 19 to 24 years.

John Hayes: The Government have announced that we will incentivise small employers who have not been previously engaged in the apprenticeships programme to take on their first young apprentices aged 16 to 24. Up to 40,000 places will be available.
	Apprenticeships deliver strong value for money, with good progression in employment and continued learning. Small employers, who often do not have human resource departments, or dedicated training budgets, can find it more challenging to take on their first apprentice. Providing an incentive payment to support them in doing so will enable them to offer new opportunities to young people.

Apprentices

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the barriers preventing small businesses from recruiting apprentices; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Employers of small and medium-sized businesses and their representative bodies have told us that they face a number of barriers in recruiting apprentices including bureaucracy and framework rigidity that in some cases cost.
	That is why we announced on 16 November that we will strip out all additional health and safety requirements imposed on employers, reduce the time it takes an employer to advertise a vacancy for an apprentice to one month and provide the small firms with a financial incentive of £1,500 to help them take on their first apprentice. We will ask a leading employer to undertake an independent review of apprenticeship standards which we expect will identify other areas where we can work to make the apprenticeship programme simpler for employers of all sizes.

Apprentices

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many 
	(1)  new apprenticeships have been started in each year since 2008-09;
	(2)  apprenticeship schemes in Great Yarmouth received enrolments in each year since 2006.

John Hayes: Table 1 shows the total number of apprenticeship programme starts in 2008/09 to 2009/10 (final data) and 2010/11 (provisional data).
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship starts, 2008/09, 2009/10 (final data) and 2010/11 (provisional data) 
			  All Apprenticeships 
			 2008/09 (final) 239,900 
			 2009/10 (final) 279,700 
			 2010/11 (provisional) 442,700 
			 Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Provisional estimates for 2010/11 can not be compared with final figures for earlier years. Source: Individualised Learner Record. 
		
	
	Table 2 shows the number of apprenticeship programme starts in Great Yarmouth parliamentary constituency by Framework in 2005/06 to 2009/10 (final data) and 2010/11 (provisional data).
	
		
			 Table 2: Apprenticeship starts by framework in Great Yarmouth, 2005/06 to 2009/10 (final data) and 2010/11 (provisional data) 
			  2005/06 (final) 2006/07 (final) 2007/08 (final) 2008/09 (final) 2009/10 (final) 2010/11 (provisional) 
			 Accountancy 10 10 (1)— (1)— 10 10 
		
	
	
		
			 Active Leisure and Learning 20 20 10 10 10 20 
			 Automotive Industry (1)— (1)— 10 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Business Administration 30 20 30 30 50 90 
			 Children's Care Learning and Development 10 10 30 20 20 20 
			 Construction 30 30 40 20 20 20 
			 Customer Service 10 20 40 40 40 80 
			 Dental Nursing (1)— 10 10 10 10 10 
			 Electrotechnical (1)— (1)— 10 10 20 10 
			 Engineering 30 30 30 40 30 40 
			 Engineering Construction (1)— (1)— 10 (1)— 10 10 
			 Equine Industry (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 10 
			 Food Manufacture (1)— (1)— (1)— 20 10 20 
			 Hairdressing 20 30 30 30 40 30 
			 Health and Social Care 20 30 40 30 50 100 
			 Hospitality and Catering 20 30 20 30 30 50 
			 Management (1)— 10 10 20 20 40 
			 Meat and Poultry Processing (1)— 10 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 MES Plumbing 10 20 20 10 10 (1)— 
			 Property Services (1)— (1)— 10 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Retail 20 20 40 40 50 110 
			 Sales and Telesales (1)— (1)— 10 10 (1)— 10 
			 Sporting Excellence (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 10 
			 Teaching Assistants (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 20 
			 Vehicle Body and Paint Operations (1)— (1)— 10 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair 10 20 30 20 20 10 
			 Great Yarmouth Total 260 320 450 410 450 730 
			 (1 )Indicates a base value of less than five. Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Provisional estimates for 2010/11 cannot be compared with final figures for earlier years. 3. Geography information is based upon the home postcode of the learner. Source: Individualised Learner Record. 
		
	
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 27 October 2011
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current

Apprentices

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to reduce the barriers to taking on an apprentice for smaller businesses; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: holding answer 25 November 2011
	On 16 November I announced a number of measures that will be taken to simplify the process and support smaller businesses to take on an apprentice. These measures include a financial incentive of £1,500 to help small businesses employ their first apprentice, significantly reducing the time it takes to recruit an apprentice, and stripping out all the unnecessary, additional health and safety requirements placed on employers that take on apprentices.

Business

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much (a) his Department, (b) UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and (c) the Science Innovation Network have spent on services and support provided to Oxitec Ltd, including (i) the market entry trip to Brazil in early 2010, (ii) the UKTI Trade Mission to Brazil in July 2010 and (iii) any further missions to Brazil or other countries.

Mark Prisk: Oxitec has received a £1,845.12 grant from the Science and Innovation Network towards travel costs in the market entry trip to Brazil from 21-27 February 2010, in the context of the International Innovation Programme.
	As a participant in UKTI's Passport to Export Scheme in 2003, Oxitec received two separate payments for visits to international markets equalling £1,520.67. The company also received an Independent Market Visit Scheme grant from UKTI in 2008 totalling £750.

Business: EU Action

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what contribution his Department has made to EU negotiations on future deregulation for micro-businesses.

Mark Prisk: On 23 November, the Commission adopted a report on “Minimising regulatory burdens for SMEs: Adapting EU regulation to the needs of micro-enterprises”. This includes a commitment to exclude micro-enterprises from the scope of proposed EU legislation from 1 January 2012, unless the proportionality of their being covered can be demonstrated. BIS worked with other EU member states to encourage the Commission to include this proposal in its report, which delivers against one of the Prime Minister’s initiatives to reduce EU regulatory costs on business.
	The report also presents the first results of the Commission’s screening of the existing stock of EU legislation for examples from which micro-businesses could be exempted or subject to a lighter regime. This draws heavily on proposals which BIS gathered from across Whitehall and UK business organisations and submitted to the Commission earlier in the autumn.
	BIS will continue to work closely with the Commission to ensure it effectively delivers its new micro-businesses policy, and that results are felt by SMEs on the ground.

Business: Government Assistance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make it his policy to provide targeted support for businesses in areas where (a) the rate of long-term unemployment increases and (b) the job density ratio falls below a specific threshold; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: The Government have a range of policies that each has their own targeting methodology in line with their objectives. For example, the Regional Growth Fund is targeted on, in particular, those areas and communities that are currently dependent on the public sector to support them make the transition to sustainable private sector-led growth and prosperity.
	The Government have no plans to introduce a targeted support for business as proposed in the question.

Economic Growth: North-east England

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his objectives are for business growth in the North East in the next five years.

Mark Prisk: The Government are committed to supporting sustainable growth and enterprise balanced across all regions and industries and promote green industries; there are no specific business growth objectives for the North East.
	The North Eastern and Tees Valley local enterprise partnerships will set out their specific objectives for pursuing local growth in their areas.

Engineering: Prizes

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support his Department has provided for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

Mark Prisk: The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is an independent award funded by industry. It will be administered by the Royal Academy for Engineering. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and other BIS Ministers and officials assisted the Royal Academy in establishing the prize through discussions with senior industry leaders.

Environment Protection

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what methodology is used in impact assessments across Government to assign a value to environmental (a) policies and (b) legislation to represent their potential benefit to the low-carbon and environmental goods and services sector.

Mark Prisk: The development of business cases and impact assessments across HM Government follows the guidance set out in The Green Book—Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government (2011). This guidance is supported by a comprehensive set of more detailed supplementary guidance which covers a range of issues including methodologies for the calculation of environmental impacts. All guidance can be found on HM Treasury's web pages:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/data_greenbook_index.htm

EU Structural and Cohesion funding

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the effect on UK exports of EU structural and cohesion funding expenditure in new member states since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: Between 2005 and 2009 UK exports of goods and services to new EU member states increased from £7.5 billion to £10 billion, an increase of 37%. Over the same period, exports of goods and services to the EU-15 increased 9%.
	It would be extremely difficult to distinguish with any certainty the effect on exports of EU structural and cohesion funding expenditure from the effect of joining a free-trade area. This is because the full effect of market opening when these member states acceded to the EU would not be expected to take place immediately: when firms start to trade with a new business partner in overseas markets they tend to do so in small amounts at first, and gradually export more. Consequently there is no clear benchmark level of exports with which to estimate the effect of expenditure of structural and cohesion funding in 2005.

Higher Education: Community Relations

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with external organisations on the implementation of the Prevent strategy in universities.

David Willetts: Ministers and officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills meet regularly with external organisations such as Universities UK, the National Union of Students, the police, local authorities and individual student societies to discuss matters relating to the implementation of the Prevent strategy and extremism on campus. We are working closely with Universities UK and the National Union of Students to help us implement the proposals set out in the Prevent strategy published earlier this year.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Liverpool

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what response he plans to give to the offer from Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership that its Employment and Skills Board should be recognised as the single voice on employment and skills matters in the Liverpool City Region in return for a commitment to undertake activities in direct support of the Government's growth agenda.

Greg Clark: I welcome the proposals that the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership has brought forward with regard to the role of its Employment and Skills Board. I am exploring these ideas further in the context of my wider discussions with Liverpool—and other cities—around developing bespoke deals between them and the Government to drive growth.

Manufacturing Industries: North-west England

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will estimate the proportion of the growth in manufacturing that took place between August 2010 and August 2011 that can be accounted for by manufacturers located in the North West.

Mark Prisk: The data are not available. Estimates of gross value added, the measure on which economic growth is based, cannot be calculated on a regional level for a considerable period of time after the event. This is because the complex process of allocating value to different regions with any accuracy relies on many detailed figures and parameters that only become available over time. Even when data become available they are only available for complete calendar years.

Mayors: Referendums

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Government's consultation on mayoral powers, entitled What can a mayor do for your city? A consultation, and the Open Public Services White Paper, what assessment he has made of powers of his Department which could be devolved to elected mayors.

Mark Prisk: As the consultation paper makes clear, the approach we are proposing is to look to the cities themselves to come forward with their own proposals for decentralising services and powers to a city mayor.

Medicine: Graduates

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students graduated with a (a) medical and (b) nursing degree in each of the last 10 years.

David Willetts: The numbers of postgraduate and undergraduate qualifiers in medicine and nursing at UK higher education institutions are shown in the following table for the academic years 2002/03 to 2009/10. Due to a change in the subject coding system used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency comparable figures for earlier years are not available. Information for the 2010/11 academic year will become available from January 2012.
	
		
			 Postgraduate and undergraduate qualifiers (1)  in medicine and nursing UK higher education institutions (2) —Academic years 2002/03 to 2009/10 
			  Medicine (pre-clinical and clinical) Nursing 
			 Academic  year Postgraduate Undergraduate Postgraduate Undergraduate 
			 2002/03 3,080 5,500 1,375 39,520 
			 2003/04 4,030 6,160 1,680 46,805 
			 2004/05 4,040 6,640 1,865 52,350 
			 2005/06 4,630 6,850 2,425 53,690 
			 2006/07 4,990 7,470 2,740 50,490 
			 2007/08 5,475 7,585 3,290 47,270 
			 2008/09 5,360 8,200 3,865 42,465 
			 2009/10 5,655 8,280 3,700 41,260 
			 (1) Covers qualifiers of all ages and domiciles from full-time and part-time courses. (2) Excludes the Open University due to their incorrect coding of subject information across the time series. Notes: 1. Figures are based on a HESA qualifications obtained population and are rounded up or down to the nearest five. 2. Subject information is shown as full person equivalents (FPEs) in the table. FPEs are derived by splitting student instances between the different subjects that make up their course aim. 3. Pre-clinical and clinical medicine and nursing are classified as principal subjects on the HESA student record. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record.

Metal Theft

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many illegal scrap metal yards have been identified in each year from 1990 to 2011.

Mark Prisk: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold such information. There is a statutory requirement for scrap metal dealers to register with their local authority under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 and the Civil Government (Scotland) Act 1982, but information on the total number of scrap metal dealers registered is not held centrally. Furthermore, operators of scrap metal yards require either an environmental permit or a registered exemption from the Environment Agency (or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency), under waste management legislation to be operating legally in the UK. Enforcement therefore currently rests with those relevant bodies.

New Businesses: Young People

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what advice and support his Department provides to young people who wish to set up in business.

Mark Prisk: We are transforming the way people receive the information, advice and guidance they need to start and grow their business. Our new approach, which provides access to everyone regardless of age, is based on: digital services which provide high quality information and advice, accessible when businesses need them; and face to face advice provided by business people for business people, not by the public sector. We are:
	Revamping the Business Link website
	www.businesslink.gov.uk
	Introducing two new online services; a dedicated “My New Business” area developed by experts to provide training, tools and checklists for those looking to start a business; and the new Growth and Improvement Service which will provide new tools to help businesses understand the issues they face, plus a business support and an events finder tool so businesses can find out what is available to them locally. To ensure services are readily accessible and meet a variety of needs, our services include online tools, tutorials and case studies, and will be accessible using mobile technology.
	Establishing a national helpline to help people find what they need on the web and for those who cannot access the web.
	Encouraging businesses to seek a business mentor to help them develop their business and encouraging mentoring organisations to offer access to their mentors through a mentoring portal,
	www.mentorsme.co.uk
	Setting up a new Business Coaching for Growth (BCG) Programme to enable small businesses with high growth potential to realise their potential.
	There are no age specific elements/adaptations, and all new materials have been reviewed and tested by a wide range of subject experts and real businesses including people starting up to ensure that they are accessible to all.
	In addition to providing advice and support it is also important to provide young people with hands-on enterprise experience. Therefore, the Government are:
	providing teachers with support to grow school businesses through an enhanced web resource
	www.enterprisevillage.org.uk
	providing schools with access to local enterprise champions to engage and inspire children
	www.inspiringthefuture.org
	supporting the creation of student enterprise societies so that every student in further education (FE) and higher education (HE) can access enterprise support;
	improving access to information about what working for yourself entails, including through Global Entrepreneurship Week and My New Business.

Parking: Fees and Charges

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact on the economy of central London of Westminster city council's proposal to extend parking charges during the evenings and weekends;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with Westminster city council on the impact of its proposals to extend parking charges during the evenings and weekends.

Mark Prisk: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not made an assessment of the impact on London's economy of Westminster city council's proposal for the extension of parking charges during the evenings and weekends. This is a primarily a matter for the council, taking account of the views of stakeholders including businesses in the area.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has had no discussions with Westminster city council on the impact of its proposals to extend parking charges during the evenings and weekends.

Post Offices

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made an assessment of the capability of sub-post offices and post office locals to offer Government services to the same level and quality as those provided by Crown post offices.

Edward Davey: The Department has made no such as assessment as decisions on the range of services to be offered at individual post offices are operational matters for Post Office Ltd within the terms of the contracts with their clients which will vary on a case by case basis. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the managing director of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The Government’s ambition is that all post offices should offer the services they are able to provide within the terms of the contracts between Post Office Ltd and their clients to the highest standards possible.

Regional Growth Fund

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether due diligence tests are conducted before Regional Growth Fund grants are approved.

Mark Prisk: Due diligence tests are carried out on all bids that have been given conditional allocations of funding from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF). Final approval of RGF awards is subject to that due diligence being satisfactorily completed.

Regional Growth Fund: EU Grants and Loans

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful bids received for the second round of the regional growth fund sought to use European regional development fund monies as match funding in each region.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 25 November 2011
	Officials in the Department and in the European regional development fund (ERDF) teams worked closely together to align, where practical, the respective funds’ bidding processes to ensure where possible bidders could access both sources of funding. In the second round of bidding to the regional growth fund 90 bids mentioned funding from ERDF sources.

Regional Growth Fund: Liverpool

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what approvals have been given to regional growth fund applications in respect of Liverpool.

Mark Prisk: In the second round of the Regional Growth Fund, 11 projects from the Liverpool city region have been conditionally allocated funds and will proceed to due diligence after terms and conditions of support are agreed.
	The 11 projects are:
	University of Liverpool
	Crown Speciality Packaging UK Ltd
	Redx Pharma Ltd
	Eldonians Group Ltd
	The Listen Media Company Ltd
	Keepmoat Homes Ltd
	Dairy Crest Ltd
	Pilkington United Kingdom Limited
	Getrag Ford Transmissions
	Harpscree (GB) Ltd
	Sefton council.

Retail Trade: West Midlands

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to support the retail sector in the West Midlands.

Mark Prisk: The Government are actively working to help all retailers including those in the West Midlands. Retail is vitally important to local and national economies. This was why it was chosen to be one of the first sectors to undergo the Growth Review process, and was the first sector to undergo the Red Tape Challenge. These initiatives identified a number of barriers to successful retail performance and growth, which the Government are working to address.
	As part of the Retail Growth Review we extended the Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) holiday for one year, to 30 September 2012. Over half a million businesses are expected to benefit, with approximately 330,000 paying no rates. It is expected that enhanced SBRR will improve cash-flow for recipient businesses against the backdrop of challenging economic conditions.
	The Government have helped all employers by increasing the employer national insurance contributions (NICs) threshold by £21 a week above indexation from April 2011. This reverses the previous Government's planned £3 billion tax on jobs and will increase the number of employees for whom employers pay no NICs by 650,000.
	Through the Merlin agreement, the five major UK banks committed to make available £190 billion of new credit in 2011. £76 billion of this new lending capacity will be to SMEs, which represents a 15% increase on the £66 billion they lent in 2010. This has helped ensure that businesses in the West Midlands and across the economy are able to access the credit they need.
	For businesses lacking track-record or collateral, the Government have committed to continuing the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme until 2014-15, providing up to £600 million of additional lending to around 6,000 viable SMEs in 2011 and, subject to demand, over £2 billion in total over the next four years.
	This Department and Department for Communities and Local Government are jointly responsible for the £20 million High Street Support Fund which was made available to support businesses affected by the public disturbances in August. Under this scheme SME businesses affected in the West Midlands have received grants and benefited from business rate relief and continue to benefit from wider business support activities to promote a return to normal trading activity. Final figures on spend under the scheme will not be available until after it closes in the new year.
	Earlier this year my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister commissioned an Independent Review of the High Street. The review is being carried out by Mary Portas and will report back to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister later this year. The purpose of the review is to identify what Government, local authorities and businesses can do to promote the development of more prosperous and diverse high streets.

Science: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria his Department uses to allocate further education science funding.

John Hayes: holding answer 25 November 2011
	The Department does not allocate further education funding at a sectoral level. Further education funding and core priorities for the Skills Funding Agency which reflect the Government’s ambitions and investment plans for FE and skills are set out in the Grant Letter to the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency, published on 31 March 2011, available at:
	http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/SFA/VINCE_CABLE_TO_ GEOFF_RUSSELL_(Skills_Funding_Agency)_31_MARCH_2011.pdf
	The Skills Funding Agency allocates budgets to individual FE colleges and training organisations. From 2011/12 academic year, we have introduced a single adult skills budget. Each college and training organisation is expected to use its single adult skills budget to support the delivery of apprenticeships, classroom-based learning and work-based learning to meet the needs of the learners and employers. This will provide FE colleges and training organisations with the flexibility to offer the range and balance of programmes, from basic skills to higher-level skills, in the mode of delivery that will best meet the needs of learners, employers and communities (classroom, workshop, online and in the workplace). As funding is not allocated at the learning aim level, the amount of money spent on qualifications in specific sectors is not reported centrally by the Skills Funding Agency.

Science: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the funding was for the Learning and Skills Improvement Service STEM Programme in each of the last three years for which data are available; and how he plans that it will be funded in the future.

David Willetts: holding answer 25 November 2011
	For 2009/10 and 2010/11, the Department did not specify an amount of funding for the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) STEM Programme. Funding was incorporated in the total ‘sector directed’ element of the Grant funding letter.
	From April 2011, LSIS is funded through the Skills Funding Agency Adult Participation Budget. The sector, in the form of the LSIS Council, determines the level of funding and LSIS deploys this to meet the needs identified by the sector and its key stakeholders.
	The Department and LSIS remain committed to improving teaching and learning in STEM subjects, and to supporting the wider STEM agenda.

Students: Finance

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what modelling his Department has undertaken on the cost of access to higher education loans; and if he will publish any such modelling.

John Hayes: The Government will make available £129 million in the 2013-14 financial year and £398 million in the 2014-15 financial year to support a system of further education (FE) loans for adults aged 24 or over studying at level 3 or higher. This includes those FE learners who are studying Access to HE qualifications, who will be able to access loans alongside other learners.
	The costs and benefits of FE loans as a whole has been modelled in an impact assessment published alongside the New Challenges, New Chances consultation on FE loans. The impact assessment can be found on the BIS website on the following link:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/f/11-1218-further-education-loans-impact-assessment

Students: Loans

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of further education student loans for access to education he expects to be repaid in full after 2013-14.

John Hayes: The Impact Assessment published alongside the New Challenges, New Chances consultation on further education loans included an assumption that 40% of the value of loans taken out will be repaid. This applies to all loans taken out from the academic year 2013/14 onwards, for all types of course. There is however no information available specifically for the subset of further education (FE) learners who are taking Access to Higher Education (HE) qualifications. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is carrying out further research and analysis to improve the accuracy of the simulation model used to calculate the figure above.
	The Impact Assessment can be found on the BIS website on the following link:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/f/11-1218-further-education-loans-impact-assessment

Trade Promotion: Olympic Games 2012

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many civil servants are working on the British Business Embassy project for the London 2012 Olympic Games; and from which Departments.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 24 November 2011
	A small core group (less than 10 civil servants) from UKTI and FCO are working to deliver the British Business Embassy at present. We expect the core team to increase as we approach delivery date for the project.

Vocational Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total funding is for adult skills (a) in total and (b) per capita in (i) Birmingham, (ii) Newcastle, (iii) Wakefield, (iv) Manchester, (v) Leeds, (vi) Liverpool, (vii) Coventry, (viii) Bristol, (ix) Sheffield, (x) Bradford, (xi) Leicester and (xii) Nottingham in each of the next five years.

John Hayes: As set out in the grant letter to the chief executive of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), which was published on 31 March 2011:
	http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/SFA/VINCE_CABLE_ TO_GEOFF_RUSSELL_(Skills_Funding_Agency)_ 31_MARCH_2011.pdf
	total funding for the agency for 2011-12 financial year (FY) is £3,923 million. This letter states that the indicative budget for 2012-13 FY is £3,759 million. In ‘Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth’, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 16 November 2010, we stated the direction of travel through to 2014-15 FY. We will publish the Adult Skills Investment Statement for the 2012-13 FY later in the autumn.
	The SFA allocates budgets to individual further education (FE) colleges and training organisations. Each college and training organisation is expected to use its single Adult Skills budget to support the delivery of apprenticeships, classroom-based learning and work-based learning to meet the needs of the learners and employers, who may be drawn from a wide geographic area. We are unable to state how much funding will be invested to support adult FE and skills provision in each city or local authority area nor can we state the per capita level of investment.

Vocational Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding bodies provide support for skills for post-16-year-olds in Birmingham; what funding such organisations have received for work in Birmingham and the west midlands in each of the next five years; and what the national budget is for each such organisation in each such year.

John Hayes: As the question is directed to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), my reply refers to funding for further education (FE) and skills for learners aged 19 and over. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) operates across England and allocates funding directly to individual FE colleges and training organisations to support FE and skills provision for adult learners. Each college and training organisation is expected to use its single Adult Skills budget to support the delivery of apprenticeships, classroom-based learning and work-based learning to meet the needs of the learners, and employers they serve, who may be drawn from a wide geographic area.
	As set out in the grant letter to the chief executive of the SFA, which was published on 31 March 2011:
	http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/SFA/VINCE_CABLE_TO _GEOFF_RUSSELL_(Skills_Funding_Agency)_31_MARCH_ 2011.pdf
	total funding for the agency for 2011-12 financial year (FY) is £3,923 million. This letter states that the indicative budget for 2012-13 FY is £3,759 million. In ‘Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth’, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 16 November 2010, we stated the direction of travel through to 2014-15 FY. We will publish the Adult Skills Investment Statement for the 2012-13 FY later in the autumn.

Young People: Unemployment

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people under the age of 25 years were not in education, employment or training in (a) Bolton and (b) England in the last year which figures are available.

John Hayes: The following provides estimates of the number and proportion of people aged(1) 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) in Bolton local authority and England in 2010. These estimates are from the Annual Population Survey.
	
		
			 People aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) in 2010 
			  NEET  
			  Number Percentage Confidence Interval 
			 England 994,000 16.6 +/- 0.5pp 
			 Bolton 6,000 17.4 +/-5.8pp 
		
	
	Please note that these estimates are subject to large sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with their Confidence Intervals(2) (CIs), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. For example, a CI of +/-5.8 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 5.8pp above the estimate and 5.8pp below the estimate.
	(1 )Age used is academic age, which is defined as the respondents age as at the preceding 31 August.
	(2) Those given are 95% confidence intervals.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Egypt

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of recent political developments in Egypt.

Alistair Burt: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has previously expressed our deep concern about the violent events in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt last week, and the loss of life and injuries. We have repeatedly urged the Egyptian authorities to establish a clear timetable for a rapid transition to civilian-led democratic rule. It is critical that the parliamentary elections proceed freely, fairly and safely, allowing the Egyptian people to express their will.

China

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to encourage investment in China by the UK service sector.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), places a high priority on supporting British companies in a range of service sectors to invest in China, including financial and professional services, creative industries, low carbon services and sustainable urban development.
	In June my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs signed a Memorandum of Understanding on trade in services with China.

Syria

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We condemn the violence of the Syrian regime. President Assad has lost legitimacy and should step aside to allow a transition to an open political system. We support the Arab League's efforts to bring an end to the repression in Syria and are working with international partners to increase pressure on the regime.

Kosovo and Serbia

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the EU technical dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Government are committed to an EU perspective for both Serbia and Kosovo.
	It is important they move to normalising relations between them, including for the stability of the region.
	The Government therefore strongly support the EU facilitated Dialogue to that end.
	To date the Dialogue has secured agreements on freedom of movement, customs stamps, mutual recognition of university diplomas and the sharing of cadastral and civil registries.

Iran

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on Iran.

Alistair Burt: Recently we have been in close touch with our EU partners about the EU response to the International Atomic Energy Agency report about the Iranian nuclear programme. The EU is considering a range of additional measures against the Iranian nuclear programme, which it will announce in the coming days.

Council of Europe Presidency

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his objectives are for the UK's presidency of the Council of Europe.

David Lidington: Our priorities for the UK chairmanship of the Council of Europe are:
	reform of the European Court of Human Rights;
	reform of the Council of Europe as an organisation;
	promoting freedom of expression on the internet;
	combating discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity;
	working towards a more effective and efficient role for the Council of Europe in supporting local and regional democracy;
	supporting strengthening of the rule of law in member states.
	Further details are set out in my written statement of 26 October 2011, Official Report, columns 8-10WS.

Latin America

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress his Department has made on engagement with Latin America.

William Hague: Our re-engagement with Latin America is crucial for our security and prosperity. Yesterday, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), opened a new Consulate-General in Recife and we will open a new embassy in El Salvador in 2012. We are broadening our relations across Latin America in areas such as higher education, science and innovation and green growth.

Iran: Nuclear Programme

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Iran's nuclear programme; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We, along with the rest of the international community, are gravely concerned about the Iranian nuclear programme. The most recent report from the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency is clear: Iran continues to flout six UN Security Council resolutions requiring it to suspend uranium enrichment, and has conducted significant military-related nuclear activities.

Afghanistan: Females

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he plans to make on women's rights in Afghanistan at the Bonn Conference.

Alistair Burt: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 28 November 2011, Official Report, columns 674-75W.

Bahrain: Arms Trade

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on sales of military equipment to Bahrain.

Alistair Burt: We regularly discuss arms export controls with EU colleagues in the EU Council Working Group on Conventional Arms Exports to ensure the consistent application by EU member states of the EU common position on the export of military technology and equipment.

Bahrain: EU External Trade

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the sale of surveillance technologies to the government of Bahrain by European companies.

Alistair Burt: We have not discussed the sale of military or surveillance technologies to Bahrain with our EU counterparts.

Bahrain: Human Rights

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the reports of (a) the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and (b) Bahraini human rights groups on human rights violations in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is studying the detail of both the Independent Commission's report and reports by human rights groups on the situation in Bahrain. I welcome the findings of the Commission, whose report seems credible and thorough and urge the Government of Bahrain to quickly implement its recommendations.

Bahrain: Politics and Government

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the government of Bahrain on censorship of online content and services in Bahrain.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly raises all human rights issues, including freedom of expression, with the Bahraini authorities both in London and Bahrain. The UK Government promotes freedom of expression as an essential element of our work on the promotion of human rights and democracy.

Bahrain: Politics and Government

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the government of Bahrain on deaths of protesters since September 2011.

Alistair Burt: We have regular discussions with the Bahraini authorities about all human rights issues. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs spoke to the Bahraini Foreign Minister on 24 November. I have met with the Bahraini ambassador twice since September and our ambassador has seen all the senior leadership in Bahrain several times to discuss the situation in Bahrain.

Central African Republic

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  whether he plans to visit the Central African Republic;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the UK’s relationship with the Central African Republic; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many officials in his Department are stationed in the Central African Republic.

Henry Bellingham: Britain has a limited bilateral relationship with the Central African Republic. We have no embassy in the Central African Republic, though we do have a British honorary consul in Bangui. Our bilateral relationship is handled by the British high commission in Yaoundé. We work with international partners including the EU and UN on security and stability issues affecting the region. There are no plans at present for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers to visit the Central African Republic. FCO officials most recently travelled to Bangui in October 2011. They participated in the ongoing EU/Government of Central African Republic Cotonou article 8 political dialogue which focused on security sector reform. They also discussed broader security issues, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, with international partners.

Departmental Air Travel

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on business class airline tickets in the last year.

Henry Bellingham: From 1 January 2011 to 20 November 2011, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has spent a total of £8,193,996 on business class air travel for Queen's messengers, Ministers and staff. This covered 3,903 journeys.
	These figures are a 9.8% reduction in costs and a 15% reduction in journeys compared to the same period in 2010.
	All travel by Ministers and staff is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

Design Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what contracts his Department has awarded for design services since May 2010; and what information his Department holds on the location of such companies;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on design in respect of (a) logos, (b) buildings, (c) advertising, (d) stationery and (e) campaigns in the last year for which figures are available.

David Lidington: Finances within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are devolved to individual Directorates in the UK and to our network of posts overseas. Although we have no central records of design costs, we hold the following information:
	(a), (c) and (d) Within the UK, any FCO design work for these purposes would normally be done using in-house resources at no additional cost. We have no central record of any design work on logos in the last financial year.
	(b) External consultants, including architects, structural, mechanical and/or electrical engineers and surveyors, are used to maximise value for money when we undertake building projects. These contracts do not separate the design element from the rest of the contract.
	(e) There is a design element to the FCO Consular “Know Before You Go” campaign which is not always billed separately. The design costs that were billed separately came to a total of £4,470 between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011.

Press Releases

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the embargo date was on press copies of his 16 November 2011 speech on intelligence matters; what his policy is on allowing the contents of his speeches to be reported in detail by the media prior to being delivered; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The full text of the speech was issued to the media on 16 November, embargoed until the time of delivery. Public statements are handled in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Ethiopia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to visit Ethiopia.

Henry Bellingham: For security and operational reasons, we do not comment on or announce visits significantly in advance. Information about visits is provided through press releases and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office publishes a retrospective quarterly list of ministerial visits on its website. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and I visited Ethiopia in July this year.

Europe: Politics and Government

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the value of a system of (a) elected, (b) representative and (c) democratic governments in preserving peace in continental Europe since 1945; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has conducted no single assessment of this broad topic, but continues to support the principles and importance of democracy in Europe and throughout the world.

G4S

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many contracts his Department has awarded to G4S since May 2010; and what the (a) monetary value and (b) net worth was of each such contract.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not awarded any centrally managed contracts to G4S since May 2010.

Gibraltar: Sovereignty

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Spain on the sharing of sovereignty over Gibraltar.

David Lidington: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has had no discussions with Spain on the sharing of sovereignty of Gibraltar. Any communication that we have with the Spanish Government about Gibraltar reflects our clear position on sovereignty, which is that the UK will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their wishes and, furthermore, the UK will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

IRG

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 November 2011, Official Report, column 663, on IRG, what the date was of the discussion between Stephen Crouch and the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham).

David Lidington: The conversation took place on 27 July 2010.

Italy: Foreign Relations

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on the UK's relations with Italy of the change of Government in that country; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: I welcome the formation of a new Government in Italy. The Prime Minister has already spoken to Prime Minister Monti, and I know my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has done so likewise and has expressed his support in light of the difficult and tough decisions that Italy will have to make in the coming months. The UK enjoys a strong and healthy relationship with Italy, and I look forward to that continuing through the range of security, economic and European issues.

Kashmir

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Indian Government on the appointment of interlocutors for the engagement of stakeholders in Indian-administered Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We are closely following the work of the three interlocutors appointed by Prime Minister Singh to help resolve the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has not had discussions with the Government of India on their appointment. We are aware from the media that the interlocutors submitted their final report to the Indian Home Minister on 12 October but their recommendations have not yet been made public. It is for the Government of India to decide how to respond to the interlocutors' findings.
	Officials in our high commissions in Islamabad and New Delhi regularly discuss the situation in Kashmir with their counterparts in India and Pakistan and with contacts in Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The long-standing position of the UK is well known—that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, one which takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to mediate in finding one.

Kosovo: Politics and Government

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the proposals in the Ahtisaari Plan for the promotion of local self-government and protection of the Serb community in Kosovo.

David Lidington: The UK has always supported the Ahtisaari Plan proposals. These provide for an enhanced and sustainable system of local self-government and specific rights for the Serbian and other minority communities in Kosovo. Some examples of the provisions include proportional representation for minorities in the national government as well as the establishment of Kosovo-Serb majority municipalities with transparent links, including funding, with Belgrade. Other elements of the Ahtisaari Plan ensure education for minorities in their own language, the right to use their own community symbols and the ability to register their names in the original form and script.
	The Plan's provisions, when fully implemented, will ensure a multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo with wide rights at municipal level, progressing towards eventual EU membership and contributing to regional stability. The UK is a strong supporter of the International Civilian Office (ICO), which was established to supervise the implementation of the plan, and works closely with it and the Government of Kosovo to help deliver full implementation of the plan.

Libya: Chemical Weapons

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the discovery of chemical weapons stocks in Libya after the fall of Gaddafi; whether these weapons were (a) secret or (b) known to the organisations overseeing the chemical weapons disarmament process; whether their existence means that the Gaddafi regime was cheating on its promise to disarm; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: On 4 November 2011, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced that, following an on-site inspection, inspectors had confirmed that the remains of the chemical weapons stocks declared by the Gaddafi regime were intact and secure, pending completion of destruction.
	The OPCW also announced that the Libyan authorities had advised them orally on 1 November 2011 that further stocks of what were believed to be chemical weapons had been found. We welcome the willingness of the new Libyan Government to provide full disclosure and transparency. The OPCW is working with the Libyan authorities to confirm the nature of the newly discovered items and to verify their destruction should they turn out to be chemical weapons.
	We continue to monitor the situation closely with international partners and expect the Libyan Government to ensure the safety and security of all stocks.
	If these items are confirmed to be chemical weapons, then the Gaddafi regime held back important information about parts of its chemical weapons programme, and failed to declare and destroy it completely in accordance with the promises that it made and the international commitments which it accepted under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
	The UK Government’s engagement with Libya on weapon of mass destruction issues made real progress in diminishing the threat Gaddafi posed. Libya gave up its nuclear capabilities. Bringing Libya into the Chemical Weapons Convention led to the destruction, by February 2011, of all its declared unfilled aerial bombs, 55% of the mustard agent, and 40% of the chemical precursor stocks. This provides the basis for the new Government to take the necessary steps to declare and destroy all the weapons that it has inherited.

Malawi: Foreign Relations

Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between the UK and the Government of Malawi.

Henry Bellingham: Britain and the Government of Malawi maintain formal diplomatic relations. But the relationship remains strained, following the Government of Malawi's unwarranted and unjustified decision to expel the British high commissioner, Mr Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, in April. In response to this action, the British Government expelled Malawi's acting high commissioner. Officials also carried out a review of the full range of the Britain's relations with Malawi, the results of which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs announced to the House in a written statement on 14 July, Official Report, column 46WS. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), has also suspended General Budget Support to the Government of Malawi, due to our serious concerns about the Government of Malawi's record on economic and political governance, public financial management, and human rights.
	Despite the strain in our relationship with the Government of Malawi, Britain's commitment to the people of Malawi remains undiminished. We are seeking to maintain planned levels of assistance from Britain to Malawi this year, and officials at the Department for International Development are reallocating the full amount originally set aside for General Budget Support to programmes that directly assist the poor. As evidence of this commitment, we have recently announced increased support for fertiliser and seeds, together with Norway and Ireland, to ensure food security for the poor people of Malawi.
	A delegation from the Government of Malawi, led by Foreign Minister Professor Peter Mutharika, visited London on 12 October for talks with the Foreign Secretary, the Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development and me. We discussed the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Britain and Malawi, and the deteriorating political and economic situation in Malawi. We emphasised to the Malawian delegation that we would appoint a new high commissioner to Malawi only when we could be confident that he or she would have full and unfettered freedom to engage not only with the Government of Malawi but with all political voices, whether or not they are sympathetic to the Government of Malawi, including the press and civil society. The appointment of a high commissioner remains under review. Similarly, the Under-Secretary insisted that General Budget Support would remain suspended until we saw concrete progress from the Government of Malawi in addressing our concerns over economic management, governance and human rights. We will continue to monitor the situation in Malawi closely.

Spain: Detainees

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure the finalisation of a court date in Spain in respect of the case of Kyle Thain and James Harris.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has provided consular assistance to Mr Kyle Thain and Mr James Harris and their families. Consular officials in Alicante have visited Mr Thain and Mr Harris on several occasions and have assisted their families with arranging prison visits. We have raised their concerns with the Spanish authorities and will continue to provide appropriate consular assistance to them.
	Court proceedings in Spain are a matter for the Spanish authorities. The FCO cannot interfere in the judicial processes of another country in the same way other countries cannot interfere in such processes in the United Kingdom.
	The Spanish authorities have informed us that both Mr Thain and Mr Harris were released on conditional bail on 24 November 2011.

Tristan da Cunha: Oil

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department is providing to Tristan da Cunha as a result of the MV Oliva oil incident.

Henry Bellingham: The responsibility to make good any damage caused to the environment of the Tristan da Cunha islands, and to compensate the Tristan community for any losses, lies with the ship's owners and insurers. We are committed to ensuring that they meet this responsibility in full. We remain in close touch with the Tristan da Cunha authorities to ensure that they have all the advice and support they need from across Government and elsewhere in the ongoing negotiations.
	While the Government are quite clear that all costs resulting from this incident must be borne by the owners and insurers of the vessel, the FCO made a top-up to Tristan da Cunha's financial reserves of £500,000 in March to protect the community against immediate and short-term costs.

Tristan da Cunha: South Africa

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in South Africa on travel routes between South Africa and Tristan da Cunha.

Henry Bellingham: There have been no such recent discussions.

Tullow Oil

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date the hon. Member for North West Norfolk met Tullow Oil in July 2010.

Henry Bellingham: I met representatives of Tullow Oil on 15 July 2010 in London and on 22 July 2010 in Kampala.

Tullow Oil

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who was present at the meeting between the hon. Member for North West Norfolk and Tullow Oil in July 2010.

Henry Bellingham: I was accompanied by Mr Andrew Pocock, then Africa director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We met Mr Tim O'Hanlon, vice-president, Africa Business and Ms Rosalind Kainyah, vice-president, external affairs and CSR.

Tullow Oil

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was discussed at the meeting between the hon. Member for North West Norfolk and Tullow Oil in July 2010.

Henry Bellingham: I discussed Tullow’s exploration and production activities throughout Africa.

Tullow Oil

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries in Africa were discussed at the meeting between the hon. Member for North West Norfolk and Tullow Oil in July 2010.

Henry Bellingham: I discussed Uganda, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tullow Oil

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether minutes were taken at the meeting between the hon. Member for North West Norfolk and Tullow Oil in July 2010.

Henry Bellingham: Minutes were not taken.

UNESCO: Human Rights

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, as a member of UNESCO's Executive Board, the Government voted for or approved the election of Syria to UNESCO's Committee on Conventions and Recommendations examining human rights communications.

Henry Bellingham: Membership of the UNESCO Committee on Conventions and Recommendations is chosen on a regional basis from within members of the regional groups. As Britain is not a member of the group which elected Syria we did not have a vote in this election nor could we have intervened under UNESCO's rules. The group was uncontested and the Syrian candidate was elected by acclamation.
	We remain committed to ensuring the UN human rights system continues to promote and protect human rights and will continue to cast our vote in open UN elections relating to human rights bodies based on merit, whether that be an individual standing for a treaty monitoring body or a UN member state standing for an inter-governmental body like the Human Rights Council.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Attendances: Alcoholic Drinks

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related attendances were recorded at accident and emergency centres on (a) 25 December, (b) 26 December, (c) 31 December and (d) 1 January in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on banning the sale of alcohol below cost.

Anne Milton: Department of Health Ministers regularly discuss all aspects of alcohol policy with Home Office counterparts. Home Office Ministers have lead responsibility for alcohol pricing policy.

Ambulance Services: Expenditure

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the likely level of (a) over-spending and (b) under-spending for each ambulance service trust in England in 2011-12.

Simon Burns: At quarter 1 of 2011-12, all ambulance service national health service trusts were forecasting a surplus.
	The aggregate forecast surplus for all ambulance service NHS trusts, at quarter 1 of 2011-12, was £16 million.
	The breakdown of the forecast surplus for all the ambulance service NHS trusts is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Ambulance service NHS trust 2011-12 Quarter 1 forecast surplus/(operating deficit) (£000) 
			 East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,587 
			 East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2,398 
		
	
	
		
			 Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,406 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2,412 
			 North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust 3,025 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,500 
			 South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2,050 
			 West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 925 
			 Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 415 
			 Total 15,718

Antibiotics

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on encouraging awareness of appropriate antibiotic use.

Simon Burns: The Department has made available on its website a range of resources to encourage prudent use of antibiotics, and promoted the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) on 18 November 2011 to remind both the public and professionals of the need to use antibiotics appropriately. This included making clear that antibiotics are important medicines and should only be taken when prescribed by a health professional, and that it is important that patients complete the prescribed course so that the treatment is effective and the risk of resistance is reduced.
	In August this year, the chief medical officer took part in a BBC Radio 4 discussion about people’s resistance to antibiotics and what the future holds. In addition, in support of the Department’s new guidance on the use of antibiotics in hospitals, published ahead of the EAAD, the chief medical officer said:
	“Many antibiotics are currently prescribed and used when they don't need to be—meaning antibiotics lose their effectiveness at a rapidly increasing rate.”
	“This guidance will help ensure better use of antibiotics in hospitals and treatment tailored for individual patient needs.”
	“It is important we use antibiotics in the right way if we are to get the best outcome for the patient, slow down resistance and make sure these important medicines continue to stay effective for ourselves and for future generations.”

Antibiotics

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to inform people about potential dangers associated with self-medicating with antibiotics.

Simon Burns: The Department and the chief medical officer promoted messages to the public relating to appropriate antibiotic use as part of its activities to support European Antibiotics Awareness day on 18 November 2011. This included making clear that antibiotics are important medicines and should only be taken when prescribed by a health professional, and that when prescribed it is important that patients complete the prescribed course so that the treatment is effective and the risk of resistance is reduced.

Antibiotics

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to prevent the increase of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

Simon Burns: The Government are continuing to focus their efforts at a national level on monitoring infections, promoting responsible prescribing and use of antibiotics as well as good general hygiene and infection control measures. We are also pushing for concerted action and collaboration at a European Union and international level to address this global issue.

Care Quality Commission: Manpower

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of staffing levels at the Care Quality Commission.

Simon Burns: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of essential levels of safety and quality of health and adult social care services.
	It is for the CQC to determine the appropriate staffing complement for its organisation in order to carry out its functions efficiently and effectively.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to tackle chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in areas of high occurrence.

Simon Burns: In July 2011, we published “An Outcomes Strategy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma”, which set out six high-level objectives for public health, the national health service and social care to tackle COPD and asthma in England. A copy of the strategy has already been placed in the Library.
	The Department is working with clinical leads for respiratory disease in each of the strategic health authority areas in England to drive up the quality of preventative, detection, diagnostic, treatment and care services for COPD. The leads are using data to help drive improvements in their areas, including those with a high occurrence of COPD.

Clostridium Difficile

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to protect public health from methicillin-resistant clostridium difficile.

Simon Burns: The Government have made clear it is a key priority that the national health service operates a zero tolerance approach to all avoidable clostridium difficile infections.
	The NHS Operating Framework 2012-13 (published 24 November 2011) again prioritises the achievement of the c . difficile objective. Those organisations who have the highest rates of c . difficile infections will be required to make the largest reductions.
	This objective, through its successful implementation, will continue to build on the significant progress already made by moving the performance of all organisations towards the level of the best, and consequently will reduce numbers at a national level.

Departmental Publications

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports his Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each.

Simon Burns: The Department has published 219 leaflets, 19 posters, 138 reports and 50 other publications since May 2010. The cost of each is shown in a table, which has been placed in the Library. All publishing and design work was commissioned through the Central Office of Information, either through its in-house resource or from its design frameworks.

Diabetes

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with Type 2 diabetes were admitted to (a) accident and emergency centres and (b) hospitals in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: Data for admissions to accident and emergency centres are not collected centrally. The number of finished admission episodes with primary diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes (Diabetes mellitus), by all and emergency admissions for 2008-09 to 2010-11, is in the following table:
	
		
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 All admissions 27,395 29,525 32,946 
			 Of which:    
			 Emergency admissions 15,392 16,569 17,335 
			 Notes: 1. Finished admission episodes: A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 2. Primary diagnosis: The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital; ICD-10 codes used: E11 Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. 3. Data quality: HES are compiled from data sent by more than 400 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 4. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. 5. Activity included: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Euthanasia

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2011, Official Report, column 238W, on euthanasia, what representations he has received on the professional guidance issued by the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association.

Anne Milton: The Royal College of Nursing has written to me about its guidance “When someone asks for your assistance to die”. There have been no other representations on this or the guidance from the British Medical Association.

Hepatitis: Health Services

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to investigate the reasons for low levels of pharmacological treatment for hepatitis C following the publication of Professor Sir Mike Richards CBE report on the extent and causes of international variations in drug usage; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Department is currently considering appropriate next steps following the report from Professor Sir Mike Richards.
	Professor Martin Lombard, the national clinical director for liver disease, is leading the development of work to curb the rising trends in liver disease. Part of this work is intended to ensure that the prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C are improved.

Hepatitis: Health Services

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the current levels of integration between health and social care services in delivering hepatitis C services; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: Integrated health and social care services are organised locally to meet local needs, and we do not hold this information centrally. Professor Martin Lombard, the national clinical director for liver disease, and his team have been working closely with representatives of the national health service, public health and patient groups for the past year to understand what needs to change to enable better outcomes to be achieved on liver disease, of which hepatitis C is a major contributing factor.
	The vision for the national liver strategy is to improve the patient pathway for people with liver disease so as to minimise unnecessary effort and expense, improve prevention and identification activity and improve treatment, care and support services from diagnosis to end-of-life care. It will underline the need for planned and integrated services across health and social care to deliver services based on the needs of individuals, and to support people living independently in the community with a good quality of life.

Home Care Services: Finance

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much extra funding has been allocated for re-ablement to support hospital discharge since May 2010; and how this funding was allocated and to whom;
	(2)  how much of the extra £70 million funding announced for re-ablement has been (a) spent by and (b) allocated to each primary care trust and on what services this money has been spent.

Paul Burstow: The Department announced on 5 October 2010 that £70 million of extra funding would be allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) to be spent across the health and social care system to enable the national health service to support people back into their homes after a spell in hospital through re-ablement. Allocations to PCTs were made on 4 November 2010, and details on this are available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_121017.pdf
	Following the extra £70 million re-ablement monies we allocated to PCTs in 2010-11, on 4 January 2011 the Department announced a further allocation of £162 million to PCTs for winter pressures funding on social care services that also, benefit the NHS.
	Examples of the kinds of services PCTs could invest in included further investment in re-ablement services, to help people regain their independence and reduce the need for ongoing care. Details on this are available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/MediaCentre/Pressreleases/DH_123223
	The spending review and 2011-12 NHS operating framework announced further funding to PCTs in financial years 2011-12 and 2012-13 to develop local re-ablement services in the context of the post-discharge support plans submitted to strategic health authorities last December. This funding totals £150 million in 2011-12 and £300 million in 2012-13, and is contained within recurrent PCT baseline allocations. Details on this are also available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_123460
	and
	www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_123463.pdf
	It is for PCTs in partnership with local agencies to commission services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations, taking account of local and national priorities.
	Copies of the documents have been placed in the Library.

Hospital Beds

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many delayed hospital discharges there have been of (a) under and (b) over 75 years old in each region since May 2010.

Paul Burstow: The Department collects data only on people over 75 years for acute delayed transfer of care and data on these are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 Delayed transfers of care of acute patients, national health service organisations, England 
			 Delayed transfers of care of acute patients—adults (75+) 
			   2010-1l 2011-12 
			 Code Name Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 
			 — England 1,790 1,610 1,769 1,806 — — 
			 Q30 North East 67 45 50 49 — — 
			 Q31 North West 160 138 149 165 — — 
			 Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber 140 107 161 213 — — 
			 Q33 East Midlands 169 124 149 116 — — 
			 Q34 West Midlands 298 289 316 273 — — 
			 Q35 East of England 244 231 178 206 — — 
			 Q36 London 142 132 139 180 — — 
			 Q37 South East Coast 165 184 150 148 — — 
			 Q38 South Central 178 180 254 232 — — 
			 Q39 South West 228 180 222 225 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Delayed transfers of care of acute patients—adults (18+) 
			   2010-11 2011-12 
			 Code Name Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 
			 — England 2,356 2,195 2,347 2,392 2,241 2,352 
			 Q30 North East 88 57 59 77 71 89 
			 Q31 North West 220 195 227 248 236 293 
			 Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber 183 169 194 281 254 230 
			 Q33 East Midlands 206 171 187 162 178 218 
			 Q34 West Midlands 415 436 417 395 344 342 
			 Q35 East of England 287 281 212 247 239 236 
			 Q36 London 216 191 209 229 236 250 
			 Q37 South East Coast 206 227 205 176 205 210 
			 Q38 South Central 249 244 323 295 182 215 
			 Q39 South West 286 223 314 281 297 270 
			 Notes: 1. Summary: An estimate of the average number of delayed transfers of care per day in the quarter by region. 2. Period: April.2010 to September 2011. Source: Department of Health: Unify2 data collection—VSMR and IPMR

Hospital Beds

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the costs to the NHS of delayed hospital discharge.

Paul Burstow: The Department does not collect data on the cost of delayed transfers of care. Data on the number of delays are published each month by the Department.
	We have made significant sums of money available in this spending review period to reduce the level of delayed discharges to a minimum. In the last financial year, an extra £162 million was made available to local health and care services to spend on front-line services, and an additional £70 million of funding was available for spend on helping people to return to their homes after a spell in hospital. This money was aimed at helping people to leave hospital more quickly, get settled back at home with the support they need, and to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital. This year, there is £150 million available for re-ablement and £648 million for social care spend that also benefits the national health service.

Hospital Beds: Hampshire

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to obtain data from the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust showing the numbers out of its total of acute in-patient beds which have been occupied by (a) detained and (b) voluntary in-patients on each day in (i) September and (ii) October 2011; if he will place a copy of such data in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: This information is not collected centrally. I understand my hon. Friend has requested these data from the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust directly and I am informed by the Trust that it has made arrangements to share this information with my hon. Friend.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people who have been given the human papillomavirus vaccine had serious side effects as a result.

Anne Milton: Since the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine immunisation programme began in September 2008 up to 22 November 2011, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has received 6,066 reports of ‘suspected’ side effects (this includes reports in which the brand of HPV vaccine was not specified). Of these 6,066 reports, 1,046 reports are considered to be serious. This follows administration of more than 5 million doses of Cervarix across the United Kingdom to date.
	The MHRA collects information on suspected side effects to vaccines and medicines via the Yellow Card Scheme. Two HPV vaccines, Cervarix and Gardasil, are licensed for use in the UK, with Cervarix routinely used within the HPV vaccine immunisation programme.
	It is important to note that Yellow Card reports relate to ‘suspicions’ that a side effect may have occurred. They may relate to true side effects, or they may be due to coincidental illness. As reports are not necessarily proof that a vaccine or medicine was a cause of the reported illness, the data cannot be used to estimate the true frequency of side effects to the vaccine. The known frequency of established side effects is listed in the available product information.
	As with all vaccines and medicines, the MHRA keeps the safety of HPV vaccines under continual review. The MHRA’s detailed safety assessment of Cervarix after 4.5 million doses had been used is published at:
	www.mhra.gov.uk/HPVvaccine
	The benefits of HPV vaccination in protecting against cervical cancer far outweigh any known side effects.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been given the human papillomavirus vaccine.

Anne Milton: Since the introduction of the human papillomavirus immunisation programme in September 2008, an estimated 2 million females have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and of those, an estimated 1.5 million have received the full three dose course up to September 2011 in England.

KPMG

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the nature was of the organisation and change management consultancy work undertaken by KPMG for his Department in 2010-11.

Simon Burns: There were two pieces of work provided by KPMG raised against the procurement category heading ‘organisation and change management’ in financial year 2010-11.
	Firstly, KPMG provided intensive project management and implementation support to 16 integrated care pilots (looking at how the health and social care systems can be better integrated to improve health outcomes for patients). The work ranged from conducting site readiness assessments; site support; ongoing site coaching; learning networks and support to and interface with the national evaluation team. The contract ran from March 2009 to September 2010 and concluded six months earlier than originally planned through mutual agreement as it was felt the sites no longer needed the ongoing programme support. The total spend on the contract was £3.45 million (excluding VAT).
	Secondly, KPMG undertook the Value Optimisation programme project from December 2009 to May 2010 to assess the value to an average hospital of the added services NHS supply chain offers which are in addition to the value of products supplied, i.e. 48-hours delivery, ward box packing, consolidated invoicing and cataloguing. The study also looked at which products currently purchased directly by the trusts could be provided more cost effectively by NHS supply chain and the specific environmental benefits of using the NHS supply chain route. The total spend on the contract was £259,762 (excluding VAT).

Maternity Services: Nurses

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to improve front-line nursing for premature and sick babies.

Anne Milton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) “Quality Standard for Specialist Neonatal Care” and the “Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services” are valuable tools to assist NHS commissioners and providers in the provision of high quality care for babies and their families. These documents have been placed in the Library and are available at:
	“Quality Standard for Specialist Neonatal Care” is available at:
	www.nice.org.uk/media/17A/A8/SpecialistNeonatalQualityStandardRevisedOct10.pdf
	“Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services” is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/@sta/@perf/documents/digitalasset/dh_108435.pdf
	Every neonatal unit is now part of a managed clinical network and networks have increased transport services hours and coverage. As set out in the NICE Quality Standard, networks, commissioners and providers will wish to undertake an annual needs assessment and ensure each network has adequate capacity. This includes ensuring there are appropriate numbers of neonatal nurses.

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the likely level of (a) over-spending and (b) under-spending for each mental health trust in England in 2011-12.

Simon Burns: At quarter 1 of 2011-12, all mental health national health service trusts were forecasting a surplus.
	The aggregate forecast surplus for all mental health NHS trusts, at quarter 1 of 2011-12, was £34 million.
	The breakdown of the forecast surplus for all the mental health NHS trusts is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Mental Health NHS Trust 2011-12 Quarter 1 forec ast surplus/(operating deficit)  (£000) 
			 Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 3,504 
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust 1,885 
			 Bradford District Care NHS Trust 100 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust 2,612 
			 Devon Partnership NHS Trust 785 
			 Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 851 
			 Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust 442 
			 Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust 6,364 
			 Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust 994 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust 4,034 
			 North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust 1,238 
			 Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 4,224 
			 Oxford Learning Disability NHS Trust 400 
			 South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust 2,207 
		
	
	
		
			 Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 0 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 2,533 
			 Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 1,500 
			 Total 33,673 
			 Note: As at quarter 1 of 2010-11, Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust was a mental health trust. However, since 1 July 2011, the trust has become part of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, which is a care trust.

MRSA

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to protect public health from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Simon Burns: The Government continue to encourage the national health service to operate a zero tolerance approach to all avoidable methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections.
	The NHS Operating Framework 2012-13 (published 24 November 2011) includes a MRSA objective which will require those organisations who have the highest rates of MRSA bloodstream infections to make the largest reductions.
	In this way we will continue to build on the significant progress already made by the NHS and move the performance of all organisations towards the level of the best and, consequently reduce infection rates further.

NHS: Expenditure

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the likely level of (a) over-spending and (b) under-spending for each acute service trust in England in 2011-12.

Simon Burns: At quarter 1 of 2011-12, there were 66 acute service national health service trusts forecasting an aggregate surplus between them, of £159 million.
	At quarter 1 of 2011-12, there were six acute service NHS trusts forecasting an aggregate operating deficit of £170 million. These were South London Healthcare NHS Trust (£65 million), Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust (£40 million), Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (£30 million), Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (£19 million), North West London Hospitals NHS Trust (£10 million) and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (£6 million).
	This means that acute service NHS trusts were forecasting a net aggregate operating deficit of £11 million.
	The Department is ensuring that the organisations forecasting a deficit have plans in place for financial recovery, while continuing to improve the quality of services to patients.
	The breakdown of the forecast surplus for all the acute service NHS trusts is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Acute Service NHS Trust 2011-12 Quarter 1 Forecast Surplus/(Operating Deficit)  (£000) 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (39,798) 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 3,000 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 2,600 
			 Bedford Hospital NHS Trust 1,390 
			 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 5,506 
			 Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 2,800 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 4,438 
			 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 0 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 2,217 
			 East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 3,500 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 250 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 1,889 
			 East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 1,333 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (19,300) 
			 George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 1,200 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust 6,880 
			 Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust 0 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 4,866 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (30,000) 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 2,111 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 2,531 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 2,100 
			 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 266 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 833 
			 Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 0 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 2,275 
			 North Bristol NHS Trust 8,980 
			 North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,000 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 500 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust (9,700) 
			 Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 500 
			 Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust 1,696 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 3,819 
			 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust 580 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust 6,352 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 3,502 
			 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 0 
			 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 0 
			 Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 0 
			 Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic NHS Trust 1,300 
			 Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 4,400 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 6,676 
			 Royal Liverpool Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust 5,557 
		
	
	
		
			 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust 6,200 
			 Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust 7,952 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 1,807 
			 Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust 1,884 
			 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 0 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust (65,176) 
			 Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust 5,156 
			 Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 1,693 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 7,919 
			 St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 250 
			 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (6,113) 
			 The Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust 1,090 
			 The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 1,070 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 483 
			 United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 4 
			 University Hospital Of North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust 1,600 
			 University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 4,592 
			 University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust 1,289 
			 Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 2,500 
			 West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 4,451 
			 West Middlesex University NHS Trust 1,604 
			 West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust 1,000 
			 Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 5,200 
			 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 3,610 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 0 
			 Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 885 
			 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust 0 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 0 
			 Wye Valley NHS Trust 145 
			 Total (10,856)

NHS: Innovation

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the NHS Chief Executive expects to publish his report on innovation; and whether the report will consider the uptake of medical technology.

Simon Burns: The NHS chief executive will publish his report alongside the Autumn Life Science Package shortly on how the adoption and diffusion of innovations can be accelerated across the national health service. The scope of the review covers the spread of innovative technologies, medicines, devices, diagnostics and care pathways. The review will inform the strategic approach to innovation in the modernised NHS. This could include actions for Government, the Department of Health, industry, the National Commissioning Board, the NHS and other sectors.

NHS: Management Consultants

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of contracts between shadow clinical commissioning groups and private consultancy firms in the next financial year.

Simon Burns: Emerging clinical commissioning groups do not yet have a legal status and cannot award contracts in their own right. Where they are involved in decisions, they will typically do so as a sub-committee of a primary care trust (PCT). PCTs will remain statutorily responsible and accountable for commissioning NHS services in 2012-13.

NHS: Manpower

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of primary care trust staff he expects to be employed by clinical commissioning groups by April 2013.

Simon Burns: The impact assessment, published alongside the Health and Social Care Bill, estimated that 57% of primary care trust staff who were in post at the beginning of April 2011 will transfer to the new organisations. This may be in clinical commissioning groups, the NHS Commissioning Board or local authorities.
	The impact assessment is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_123583
	A copy has already been placed in the Library.

NHS: Redundancy

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of redundancies of primary care trust and strategic health authority staff in the next financial year.

Simon Burns: The impact assessment, published alongside the Health and Social Care Bill, estimated that the redundancies resulting from the modernisation will cost £810 million. The estimate for total redundancy costs in primary care trusts is £634 million, and the estimate for strategic health authorities is £84 million.
	This upfront cost will result in a £1.5 billion saving per year by 2014-15, which is a one-third reduction in the administrative spending across the system. The upfront costs of the modernisation will be more than recouped from the cost-savings by the end of 2012-13.
	The impact assessment is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_123583
	A copy has been placed in the Library.

NHS: Training

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of medical staff working in the NHS in each of the last 10 years were trained outside the UK.

Simon Burns: This information is not held centrally. The Information Centre for health and social care collects data on the number of medical staff broken down by country of primary medical qualification. The following table shows the percentage of medical staff qualified outside the United Kingdom.
	
		
			 Hospital and Community Health Services: All medical staff and the percentage of medical staff qualified outside the UK, England as at 30 September each year 
			  AH medical staff (Number) Qualified outside the UK (Percentage) 
			 2000 68,158 31.1 
			 2001 70,314 31.9 
			 2002 73,377 33.6 
			 2003 77,088 34.7 
			 2004 83,144 36.7 
			 2005 86,660 38.3 
			 2006 89,411 38.0 
			 2007 90,698 37.0 
			 2008 94,482 36.8 
			 2009 98,619 35.7 
			 2010(1) 99,905 35.5 
			 (1 )This is a percentage of the total medical staff whose country of primary medical qualification is known. Note: The new headcount methodology for 2010 data is not fully comparable with previous years data due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components. Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census

Pancreatic Cancer

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the Study for Survival report, published by Pancreatic Cancer UK in September 2011.

Paul Burstow: We are committed to improving outcomes for all cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer. On 12 January, we published “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer” which sets out how we intend to tackle preventable cancer incidence, improve the quality and efficiency of cancer services and deliver outcomes that are comparable with the best in Europe. The strategy sets out an ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives every year by 2014-15 through earlier diagnosis of cancer and improved access to screening and radiotherapy.
	Departmental officials have had informal discussions with Pancreatic Cancer UK about the Study for Survival report.

Patient Choice Schemes

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the choose and book system.

Simon Burns: Choose and book is in use in every primary care trust and national health service provider organisation across England as well as many independent sector provider organisations who deliver services commissioned by the NHS. 94% of all general practitioner (GP) practices made bookings through choose and book in the last reporting month.
	Since 2004, over 32 million patient referrals have been booked via choose and book and there is an average of over 30,000 patients a day whose appointments are booked using the system. This includes 50% of GP referrals to first outpatient services and an increasing number of referrals to other services, including those to allied health professionals, diagnostic and community services and GPs with specialist interests.
	The following benefits have been reported by users of choose and book:
	greater choice of providers as the services listed not only include those that are provided in hospitals but also those that are provided in other settings;
	a reduction in referral to treatment time for patients which may lead to shorter care pathways;
	increased security of referral information and reliability of booking processes;
	increased appropriateness of referrals;
	efficiency savings compared to a paper-based process as technology replaces manual booking processes; and
	a reduction in did not attend (missed) appointments.
	A survey of patient views about choose and book was carried out by the Department in April 2010. The findings were as follows:
	89% of patients stated that choose and book was ‘Good' or ‘Excellent';
	95% of patients thought it was ‘Easy' or ‘Very Easy' to obtain an appointment through choose and book;
	56% of patients agreed or strongly agreed that choose and book had improved the management of their referral;
	77% ‘Agreed’ or ‘Strongly Agreed' that choose and book had reduced the time to receive an appointment;
	59% of patients were able to get an appointment for their chosen date and time (note, out-patient clinics are normally held on specific days and times); and
	89% of patients reported being able to go to the hospital of their own choice.

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new cases of (a) cervical cancer and (b) genital warts have been recorded in each year since 1981.

Paul Burstow: Information concerning the number of new cases of cervical cancer and new and recurrent cases of genital warts diagnosed in each year since 1981 up to the year of latest data availability has been set out in the following tables:
	
		
			 Cervical cancer registrations 
			  Incidence 
			 1981 3,784 
			 1982 3,710 
			 1983 3,677 
			 1984 3,786 
			 1985 4,073 
			 1986 4,032 
			 1987 3,998 
			 1988 4,041 
			 1989 3,798 
			 1990 3,923 
			 1991 3,386 
			 1992 3,217 
			 1993 3,116 
			 1994 2,998 
			 1995 2,874 
		
	
	
		
			 1996 2,748 
			 1997 2,708 
			 1998 2,620 
			 1999 2,717 
			 2000 2,468 
			 2001 2,487 
			 2002 2,350 
			 2003 2,372 
			 2004 2,275 
			 2005 2,299 
			 2006 2,405 
			 2007 2,338 
			 2008 2,384 
			 2009 2,747 
			 Notes: 1. Cervical cancer is coded as 180 in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) and C53 in the Tenth Revision (ICD-10). 2. Figures exclude non-residents. 3. Newly-diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year. 4. Latest data available are for 2009. 5. This information has been provided by the Office for National Statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			 Genital warts (first and recurrent episodes) 
			 Country Year Total 
			 England and Wales 1981 29,704 
			  1982 33,343 
			  1983 37,899 
			  1984 44,050 
			  1985 52,177 
			  1986 67,068 
			  1987 74,542 
			  1988 75,878 
			  1989 78,146 
			    
			 England 1990 77,112 
			  1991 82,618 
			  1992 84,600 
			  1993 84,720 
			  1994 86,725 
			  1995 89,357 
			  1996 94,990 
			  1997 102,071 
			  1998 105,609 
			  1999 107,666 
			  2000 106,836 
			  2001 108,560 
			  2002 108,462 
			  2003 110,314 
			  2004 113,478 
			  2005 116,599 
			  2006 121,068 
			  2007 130,789 
			  2008 135,888 
			  2009 133,080 
		
	
	
		
			  2010 129,207 
			 Notes: 1. Data on unknown gender are included in the 'Total' column. 2. The data available from the KC60 (2008 and earlier) and GUMCAD (2009 onwards) returns are for diagnoses made in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics only. A recent study of genital warts cases (first and recurrence) seen in GUM clinics and in general practice in 2008 has found most cases seen in general practice were referred on to GUM clinics and estimated that around only 5% of cases were seen in general practice only, i.e. figures in the table may represent up to 95% of cases. 3. The data available from the KC60 and GUMCAD returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. 4. The information provided is based on reported data from GUM clinics in England (1981-2010) and Wales (1981-89) that have been adjusted for missing clinic data. 5. England only data are not available before 1990. 6. Data are not available for 2011.

Sexually Transmitted Infections: Vaccination

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to (a) make and (b) announce a decision on whether to proceed with a new vaccination programme for protection against cervical cancer; and what consideration he has given in making that decision in respect of the need for protection against genital warts.

Anne Milton: On 24 November 2011, the Department announced that following a procurement exercise conducted through competitive tendering for the further supply of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, a three-year contract has been awarded to Sanofi Pasteur MSD for supply of Gardasil®. Vaccine from this contract will be used from September 2012. The award criteria used in the evaluation took into account protection against cervical cancer, non-cervical cancers, and genital warts.
	A copy of the award criteria has been placed in the Library.

Sexually Transmitted Infections: Vaccination

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of females aged over 15 years who have received protection by vaccination against (a) cervical cancer and (b) genital warts.

Anne Milton: By 31 August 2011, we estimate 1.1 million females aged 16 or older in England had received the full course of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Cervarix®) that provides protection against cervical cancer. This is the vaccine offered in the routine HPV immunisation programme.
	Data on the number of females that have received the HPV vaccine (Gardasil®), that also provides protection against genital warts, are not held centrally.

WALES

Departmental Publications

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports her Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each.

David Jones: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number  Cost (£) Designed and published 
			 Leaflets 0 — — — 
			 Posters 0 — — — 
			 Reports 2 Rural Economy Taskforce Report 718.40 Wales Office and Ministry of Justice 
			   Wales Office Annual Report 2010-11 5,437.56 Wales Office and The Stationery Office 
		
	
	Copies are in the Library of the House.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Remploy

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what estimate she has made of the cost of maintaining the Remploy factory networks and keeping employment services in the public sector for the next 18 years; and what estimate she has made of the cost of closing the Remploy pension scheme.

Maria Miller: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government consultation on the recommendations of the Sayce report closed on 17 October 2011, and nearly 1400 responses were received. It will take time to analyse the consultation responses in detail and carefully consider the implications for future policy. We will publish a summary of responses received and a statement on future policy as soon as practicably possible.
	Importantly, the Government have not made any decisions on these points and sought views through the consultation, by encouraging the widest possible range of people and organisations to respond, including people who work for Remploy or on behalf of its employees in particular.
	The future costs of Remploy are dependent on the future policy decisions. Therefore it is not possible to estimate running costs over an 18-month period. The Government funding to Remploy in 2009-10 was £129.95 million. The Remploy accounts for 2010-11 will be published shortly.

TRANSPORT

A14: Cambridgeshire

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions she has had with stakeholders on upgrading the A14 in Cambridgeshire; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Over the last several months my Department's officials have been engaging with local stakeholders, working together to set up the A14 Study. The study seeks to identify cost effective and practical proposals that bring benefits and relieve congestion, looking across modes to ensure we develop sustainable proposals. This approach will also provide an opportunity for the private sector to play its part in developing schemes to tackle existing problems in the corridor. The study steering group met in July, and agreed first steps for the study. The study is now under way.

Air Passenger Duty

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with Ministers in HM Treasury on changes to air passenger duty following the extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to the aviation sector.

Theresa Villiers: The Department for Transport has regular discussions with HM Treasury on a range of aviation issues. Decisions on matters concerning taxation are taken by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
	The Government remains committed to the inclusion of aviation in the EU emissions trading system from 1 January 2012.

Aviation: Economic Growth

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the report from the British Chambers of Commerce on aviation policy's effect on economic growth.

Theresa Villiers: The Government issued an aviation policy scoping document in March 2011, calling for evidence on a range of strategic issues. The British Chambers of Commerce produced the report ‘Flying in the Face of Jobs and Growth’ in response to the scoping document. We are reviewing the findings of this report alongside the many contributions to the debate about our future aviation policy. We will issue a Sustainable Framework for UK Aviation for public consultation in spring 2012.

Aviation: Regulation

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in reducing the burden of regulation in the aviation sector.

Theresa Villiers: The Government are currently undertaking a review of the existing stock of regulation with a view to removing over burdensome regulatory legislation.
	As part of this process, in May next year the public and businesses will be invited to submit ideas for regulations in the aviation sector that might be amended or revoked so as to reduce their burden on the industry or on the public as a whole.

Carbon Emissions: Greater London

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations she has received supporting a delay to the application of the Euro4 emission standards in the London low emission zones from January 2012.

Theresa Villiers: The Department for Transport is aware of the strong views of some operators about the new phase of the London low emission zone; however, this scheme is the responsibility of the Mayor of London. Therefore applications to delay introduction of the standards should be made to the Mayor.

Carbon Emissions: Greater London

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the cost to the haulage industry of complying with the Euro4 emission standards in the London low emission zones to be introduced in January 2012;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the cost to the haulage industry of complying with the Euro5 emission standards in the London Low Emission Zones.

Theresa Villiers: The London Low Emission Zone is the responsibility of the Mayor of London. Therefore, it would be for the Mayor and Transport for London to assess the compliance costs of the scheme on the haulage industry.

Cycling

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department has taken to encourage more people to ride bicycles to their place of work since 2010.

Norman Baker: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 September 2011, Official Report, column 737W.

Cycling: Highway Code

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on steps to stop cyclists breaking the Highway Code.

Michael Penning: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has had no discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department on this issue. The enforcement of cycling offences is, however, an operational matter for individual chief officers of police.

Cycling: Safety

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps her Department has taken to increase the safety of cyclists on roads.

Michael Penning: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 15 November 2011, Official Report, column 770W.

Official Cars

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles have been purchased for the use of Government Ministers since June 2010; and where each such vehicle was manufactured.

Michael Penning: The Government Car Service has purchased four cars for ministerial use since June 2010. All of these were manufactured in the United Kingdom.

Fuels: EU Action

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings her Department has had with (a) representatives of the Canadian Government and (b) businesses on the proposed EU directive on fuel quality.

Norman Baker: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has not held any meetings with the representatives of the Canadian Government or oil companies regarding the Fuel Quality Directive since joining the Department in October.
	Department for Transport Ministers and officials have had numerous meetings with various stakeholders including representatives of oil companies, biofuel producers, trade associations representing the transport fuels industry, UK and international non-governmental organisations (including those representing environmental and social issues), the European Commission, European member states and the Canadian Government to discuss all aspects of the Fuel Quality Directive and will continue to do so as necessary.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether an environmental impact assessment for High Speed 2 will include further detailed analysis on the estimate contained in the HS2 Appraisal of Sustainability on the level of carbon emissions produced by the project; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: Should I make a decision to proceed with the high speed rail scheme, the environmental impact assessment and accompanying environmental statement that would inform the hybrid Bill process would include a detailed assessment of carbon.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the environmental impact assessment for High Speed 2 will include detailed analysis of the potential effect of the project on sites of special scientific interest; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: Should I make a decision to proceed with the high speed rail scheme, the environmental impact assessment and accompanying environmental statement that would inform the hybrid Bill process would include a detailed analysis of potential impacts on sites of special scientific interest.

Identification: Photographs

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to ensure a competitive market for the provision of ID photographs for driving licences and passports.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 22 November 2011, Official Report, columns 257-8W, with regard to the provision of photographs for driving licences and passports. Customers wishing to obtain a driving licence have three channels that they can use to provide a photograph. There is effective competition between the three channels driven by customer choice.

Motorways: Speed Limits

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations her Department has received on its consultation on increasing motorway speed limits to 80 mph.

Michael Penning: holding answer 10 November 2011
	The Department has not issued a consultation about increasing motorway speed limits to 80 mph. The Department has received many representations both for and against increasing the motorway speed limit, since the announcement was made on 3 October of an intention to consult about this soon.

Ports: Economic Growth

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the importance of sea port capacity for economic growth potential.

Michael Penning: The Government consider sea port capacity to be vitally important in facilitating growth in an island economy which has limited alternatives available to the use of sea transport for the movement of freight and bulk commodities. This is reflected in the National Policy Statement for Ports, which is currently before Parliament.

Ports: Radioactive Materials

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times radioactive monitors deployed at UK ports or airports have identified radioactively contaminated foodstuffs from Japan on ships or aircrafts on arrival since 11 March 2011; and what was done with the foodstuffs on each such occasion.

Damian Green: I have been asked to reply.
	Since 11 March 2011 no radioactively contaminated foodstuffs from Japan were detected by UK Border Agency monitors deployed at UK ports and airports.

Rail Value for Money Review

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what external consultants were contracted to work on the McNulty Review on rail value for money; what regular checks were made for potential conflicts of interests; and whether any conflicts of interests were declared. [R]

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given on 18 July 2011, Official Report, columns 708-9W, to the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle), which sets out the details of consultants contracted to work on the McNulty review of Rail Value for Money.
	Consultants, by the terms of the contract, were required to declare existing or potential conflicts of interest prior to, and through the life of, the contract.
	The McNulty Review was an independent study and as such the Department does not hold records of the ongoing scrutiny undertaken by the study team.

Railways: Accidents

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents with runaway trolleys there have been on the rail network since 15 February 2004; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: The Department is aware of five incidents of runaway trolleys that have been reported to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) since RAIB became operational in October 2005. All five of these have been subject to a RAIB investigation.
	Issues of operational rail safety, and the reporting and recording of these, are primarily a matter for the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), as well as the relevant rail industry duty holders. The hon. Member may wish to contact the ORR for further information at the following address:
	Office of Rail Regulation
	1 Kemble street
	London
	WC2B 4AN

Railways: Overcrowding

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will encourage train companies to allow standard class ticket holders to sit in first class seats during periods of overcrowding.

Theresa Villiers: It is an operational matter for train operators to decide whether and, if so, in what circumstances to allow holders of standard class passengers to use first class accommodation (where available). This is permitted under Condition 39 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

Railways: Private Sector

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what estimate her Department has made of the amount of private sector investment in the railway industry in each of the last 10 years; [R]
	(2)  what estimate her Department has made of the amount of investment train operating companies have made in the railway industry in each of the last 10 years; [R]
	(3)  what estimate her Department has made of the amount of public subsidy in the railway industry in each of the last 10 years; [R]

Theresa Villiers: Details of private investment in the rail industry, including that made by train operating companies, along with Government support to the rail industry, is published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in National Rail Trends. This is available on the ORR's website at:
	www.rail-reg.gov.uk

Railways: Safety

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department has taken to prevent children from playing on or near railway tracks.

Theresa Villiers: Initiatives to prevent children from playing on or near the railway are for Network Rail to develop in the first instance. The company deploys a range of national and local initiatives to raise awareness of the risks and dangers of the railway.

Roads: Accidents

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fatal vehicle accidents have occurred where a visitor to the UK driving on the wrong side of the road was a contributory factor in the last 10 years.

Michael Penning: Table 1 shows the number of reported fatal road accidents which had “inexperience of driving on the left” as a contributory factor, in Great Britain for the period 2005-10. However, it is not known how many drivers involved in such accidents were visitors to Great Britain, or if they were driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the accident.
	Information on contributory factors to road accidents has been collected since 1 January 2005. Please note that contributory factors are reported only for injury road accidents where a police officer attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor. These factors are largely subjective, reflecting the attending officer's opinion at the time of reporting. It is recognised that subsequent enquires could lead to the reporting officer changing his/her opinion.
	
		
			 Table 1:  N umber of fatal road accidents (1)  with “inexperience of driving on the left” reported as a contributory factor, GB, 2005-10 
			 Year of accident Number of fatal road accidents 
			 2005 8 
			 2006 10 
			 2007 8 
			 2008 12 
			 2009 10 
			 2010 7 
			 (1) Includes only road accidents where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported.

Roads: Fees and Charges

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which local authorities have received funding from the Transport Innovation Fund for work on road-pricing in each year since the scheme was created.

Norman Baker: The Transport Innovation Fund was aimed at measures that incorporated demand management and which formed a coherent anti-congestion strategy. The guidance published in January 2006 stated that the Department would be most likely to fund packages that involved road pricing, but might, by exception, be prepared to consider bids involving a workplace parking levy.
	The Department's records indicate the following authorities received Transport Innovation Fund Pump Priming monies:
	
		
			 £000 
			 Authorities 2005-06 to 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 West Midlands PTA 2,668 235 — 
			 Greater Manchester PTA 4,700 8,543 7,650 
		
	
	
		
			 Tyne and Wear PTA 1,700 — — 
			 Bristol Sub Region(1) 2,168 503 — 
			 Cambridgeshire county council 2,440 1,500 1,134 
			 Shropshire county council 858 — — 
			 Durham county council 350 — — 
			 East Midlands Three Cities(2) 1,771 — — 
			 Reading 680 514 1,426 
			 Norfolk 250 — — 
			 West Yorkshire PTA  348 1,124 
			 Total(3) 17,584 11,643 11,334 
			 (1) Bristol City, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset, and North Somerset councils (2) Nottingham, Derby, Leicester city councils, and Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire county councils (3) The figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. Therefore, totals may not be the sum of their components due to rounding.

Roads: Lighting

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department has taken to encourage local councils to improve street lighting.

Norman Baker: It is for each local highway authority to decide what level of service they wish their street lighting network to deliver. Local highway authorities have a duty, under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, to maintain the public highways in their charge. The duty to maintain the highway includes street lighting. Authorities do not have a duty to light any particular parts of their networks but, where lighting has been provided, the authority has a duty to maintain it.
	The Department for Transport is providing £3 billion over the four years from 2011-12 to local highway authorities in England (excluding London) for highways maintenance which can be used for. the street lighting assets. In addition, the Department has approved long-term funding for 32 local authority street lighting projects (including London) with total annuity value for these projects of £2.5 billion.
	The Department for Transport is also a member of the UK Lighting Board, a sector led group that meets quarterly to develop and share best practice on the improvement of street lighting. We also endorse the UK Lighting Board's code of practice for highway lighting management, well-lit highways, available at:
	http://ukroadsboard.org/en/UKRLG-and-boards/uk-lighting-board/welllit-highways.cfm
	This code sets out a framework of recommended guidance and standards for authorities to follow.

Shipping: Inspections

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many safety inspections were carried out on ships using UK ports in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; what the country of registration was of each ship inspected; what the result was of the inspection was in each case; and whether any penalties were imposed.

Michael Penning: During this period the total number of inspections of ships visiting UK ports was 1,852.
	In view of the quantity of data involved the detailed information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Imposition of penalties in relation to ship inspections is normally by detaining a ship found to be unfit to be at sea until the deficiency has been rectified. Ship detentions have been included in the report provided.

Shipping: Rescue Services

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contingency plans her Department has put in place for a maritime emergency in the South West that requires an emergency towing vehicle with a 200 ton bullard pull capability.

Michael Penning: HM Coastguard Coordination Centres actively monitor shipping using the automatic identification system (AIS) and will proactively contact ships that are observed to be stopped at sea or behaving erratically. Arrangements have been put in place to monitor tug availability in the waters around the UK and the Coastguard will encourage ship masters, owners and their insurers to take early action to summon tug assistance should ships get into difficulty or become disabled. Coastguards will also advise the principal salvage and towage brokers about the existence of disabled vessels so that they can match market capabilities with demand.
	Additionally, HM Coastguard has long-standing arrangements with ports, harbours and tug brokers for the supply of tugs in an emergency situation, and the coastguard agreement on salvage and towage (CAST) provides a further option for the provision of emergency towing.

Shipping: Rescue Services

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial model her Department used to estimate the savings that would be made by the removal of emergency towing vessels; and what provision she has made for funding the potential costs of any future major pollution incident.

Michael Penning: The decision to withdraw the emergency towing vessels (ETVs) was part of the comprehensive spending review package announced in October 2010, and reflected the Government’s judgment about the balance of risk of pollution around the UK coast in the event of a maritime accident. This decision was based on the then current running costs of the ETV contract, and the determination that the costs of any future pollution incident will be borne by the polluter on a cost recovery basis.

Shipping: Rescue Services

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the evidential basis is for her policy that the coastguard agreement on salvage and towage is a suitable alternative to the provision of emergency towing vessels; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that the safety standards provided by the emergency towing vessels are maintained.

Michael Penning: The Government have taken the view that it is the responsibility of shipowners and operators to protect their interests by engaging commercial tugs and salvors when their ships get into difficulty.
	The relevant coastguard co-ordination centres are actively monitoring shipping using the automatic identification system (AIS), and will be proactive in contacting ships that are observed to be stopped at sea or behaving erratically.
	The coastguard agreement on salvage and towage (CAST) was not developed to be a like-for-like alternative to the provision of emergency towing vessels (ETVs). The CAST provides tug assistance of last resort, with the cost potentially being borne by Government. It facilitates the prompt hire of tugs on pre-agreed terms, where towage assistance is not immediately available or forthcoming. This also provides the Secretary of State’s Representative (SOSREP) with a means to exercise his powers of direction and intervention on maritime salvage and pollution prevention.

SS Richard Montgomery

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment her Department has made of the safety of the wreck of SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames estuary; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The latest information on the SS Richard Montgomery was published on 5 September 2011 giving a summary report of the 2008 and 2009 SS Richard Montgomery surveys. A copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House. More recent surveys have been done and the results are still being assessed.

Thameslink: Rolling Stock

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2011, Official Report, column 610W, on Thameslink railway line: rolling stock, what the value was of Interfleet's contract with Siemens in each case where there was a potential conflict of interest. [R]

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 22 November 2011
	The detail of these contracts is a matter between Siemens and Interfleet rather than the Department.

Transport Sector Transparency Board

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether she will publish the minutes of the (a) September and (b) November 2011 meetings of the Transport Sector Transparency Board.

Theresa Villiers: I have agreed to the publication of the minutes of the Transport Sector Transparency Board. The minutes of the September and November meetings will be published on the Department for Transport website within the next two weeks. All subsequent board meeting minutes will also be published on the website.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information he has on the annual average number of lorry movements associated with a biomass generating plant of (a) 10MW, (b) 20MW and (c) 100MW capacity.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not hold this information.
	Lorry movements and other potential impacts associated with new biomass generating plant are considered within the planning process. For proposed plants of 50 MW or below the application is considered by the local planning authority in the normal planning regime. Above that threshold, the Department continues to process legacy applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. However, with effect from 1 March 2010 any new applications for nationally significant energy infrastructure projects (50 MW and above onshore) are handled under the Planning Act 2008 regime. Information on recent and current Section 36 applications is available from the DECC Energy Infrastructure online portal(1); applications under the Planning Act 2008 regime are available on the Infrastructure Planning Commission's website(2).
	(1) Note:
	https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/EIP/pages/overview.htm
	(2) Note:
	http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/
	In April we introduced sustainability criteria to the Renewables Obligation that includes a requirement for power plant operators to report annually on the greenhouse gas emissions lifecycle of their biomass electricity. The lifecycle includes consideration of the emissions associated with the transport of the biomass feedstocks as well as cultivation and processing. This requirement applies to existing as well as new biomass generating plant.

Biofuels

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on the average proportion of stemwood combusted in biomass generating plants in the UK in each of the last five years.

Gregory Barker: The sustainability reporting requirements under the renewables obligation (RO) do not require operators to provide this level of detail.
	The types of wood reported to Ofgem as combusted in biomass generating stations include brash, recycled wood, wood from tree surgery, forestry and timber processing rejects, forest stumps, sawmill co-products and offcuts, forestry waste wood, wood pellets, recycled fibre, small roundwood, sawdust and sawmill chip. Of these, only brash and forest stumps would be considered as sources that specifically exclude stemwood content. Other sources except roundwood may contain a mix of stemwood and non-stemwood.
	Wood provided around 36% of the five million tonnes of solid biomass and energy crop reported as feedstocks in the renewables obligation (RO) returns for 2010-11.
	The returns submitted to Ofgem give a total of 1.82 million tonnes of wood as combusted from April 2010 to March 2011. 16,088 tonnes, around 0.9% of the total wood, was reported as sourced from brash and/or forest stumps.
	Wood provided around 53% of the 4.1 million tonnes of solid biomass and energy crop reported as feedstocks in the renewables obligation returns for 2009-10.
	The returns submitted to Ofgem give a total of 2.14 million tonnes of wood combusted from April 2009 to March 2010. 21,330 tonnes, equivalent to around 1% of the total wood, was reported as sourced from brash and/or forest stumps.
	Biomass sustainability reporting was introduced under the renewables obligation in April 2009.
	We do not hold data prior to this date.

Boilers

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic properties without a condensing boiler.

Gregory Barker: There are around 26 million dwellings in Great Britain. 2009, the last year for which official figures have been published, shows that there are approximately 22 million gas and oil boilers, an estimated six million condensing boilers, and 16 million non-condensing boilers. Over 1.5 million new condensing gas boilers are installed each year. The remaining four million dwellings use a mix of electric, solid fuel or district heating to heat their homes.

Carbon Reduction Commitment

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the recently published carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency league tables; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The first CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme performance league table clearly shows organisations who have taken clear action on energy management prior to the start of the scheme. The level of interest and coverage around the publication of the league table shows that organisations, trade press, consumers and investors have a real interest in comparing the energy efficiency performance of competing organisations. It is therefore anticipated that this annual publication will act as a reputational driver for many organisations to give energy efficiency higher priority.

Carbon Sequestration: Contracts

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  when he plans to start the tender process for the UK carbon capture and storage demonstration project;
	(2)  whether the UK tender process and associated funding for the carbon capture and storage programme will be completed in time to meet the deadline for the European Union ER300 programme.

Charles Hendry: The Government remains firmly committed to carbon capture and storage (CCS) and there are a number of promising projects proposed in the UK. We will launch a streamlined selection process for future CCS projects as soon as possible and my Department will expand on our plans later this year. I can confirm that the £1 billion remains available for this. We recognise the benefit of aligning the UK selection process with the NER300 programme and are making every effort to achieve this.

Climate Change: International Co-operation

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his priorities will be for the forthcoming Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Government are committed to making further progress at the Conference of the Parties in Durban on implementing what we achieved at Cancun last year by continuing to put in place the global climate architecture (including for climate finance, adaptation, forests, technology and measuring and reporting emissions). We also want to make progress towards a single legally binding instrument which commits all major economies to binding targets to lower their emissions and, recognising that the emissions reduction pledges on the table so far are collectively not ambitious enough to be consistent with keeping the increase in global temperatures below 2°, we need to make progress in reaching, a common understanding on the size of this gap and how we can close it.

Food Procurement

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that the same standards of animal welfare for whole eggs apply to imported liquefied eggs procured by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible.

Gregory Barker: The Government Buying Standards mandatory criteria in respect of eggs currently apply to fresh, in-shell eggs. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will be making necessary changes to the Government Buying Standards mandatory criteria to ensure eggs produced in conventional cages, an illegal production system across the EU after 2012, should not be used in any form whether this is fresh, powdered or liquid.
	DECC receives its catering services through a contract procured by DEFRA, and so through this contract will comply with this mandatory criteria. DECC will also ensure that its NDPBs are alerted to this forthcoming mandatory criteria.

Food Procurement

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of food sourced by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible was procured from UK food producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Gregory Barker: DECC receives its catering services through a contract procured by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). DEFRA is working with the caterer to ensure that Government Buying Standards are met in full.
	The percentage of food under the contract between May and September 2011 that was sourced from the UK was:
	Meat: 43.5%
	Poultry: 67.1%
	Fruit and vegetable: 23.3% of total, 38.5% of indigenous.
	In relation to those DECC non-departmental public bodies who have contracts covering catering:
	The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) facilities management provider is responsible for the provision of catering through a contract with an external catering company. The NDA do not hold figures on the proportion of food sourced from UK producers.
	The Coal Authority currently procure 95% of food from UK producers.

Press Releases

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that significant policy announcements from his Department are made in the House prior to their release to the media.

Gregory Barker: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on 23 November 2011, Official Report, column 313, during the Annual Energy Statement debate.

Press Releases

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral statement of 23 November 2011 on the Annual Energy Statement, if he will publish the media strategy in relation to his announcement listing all media interviews (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department carried out prior to the oral statement in the House.

Gregory Barker: No such interviews were given prior to the oral statement.

Press Releases

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral statement of 23 November 2011 on the Annual Energy Statement, with which third parties his Department discussed the Annual Energy Statement prior to his oral statement to the House.

Gregory Barker: Neither the Annual Energy Statement, nor any of the documents published alongside it, were shared with any third parties prior to the oral statement.

Press Releases

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral statement of 23 November 2011 on the annual energy statement, if he will publish the media grid his Department used in relation to that statement, including the (a) journalists and (b) media outlets that received briefings; and when such briefings took place.

Gregory Barker: No journalists or media outlets were given briefings on the content of the oral statement of 23 November 2011, Official Report, columns 299-302, until after it had taken place.

Press Releases

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral statement of 23 November 2011 on the annual energy statement, if he will instigate an inquiry on disclosure by the media of the annual energy statement prior to it being made to the House.

Gregory Barker: Neither the annual energy statement, nor any of the documents published alongside it, were shared with the media prior to the oral statement of 23 November 2011, Official Report, columns 299-302.

Diesel Fuel: Refineries

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government is taking to increase the UK’s diesel refining capacity.

Charles Hendry: The Department recognises that petroleum products will remain a major component of the UK’s primary energy mix for at least the next 20 years. We are working with other Government Departments and the UK refining industry to develop a strategic policy framework for the UK refining sector. Part of this work will consider a number of future development scenarios for UK refining, including enhanced diesel and jet fuel manufacturing capacity, in terms of their potential security of supply and wider economic implications, and will examine the range of EU and UK policies that impact upon the sector.

Electricity Generation

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many gallons of water are required to produce one megawatt hour of energy in the UK from (a) solar PV, (b) solar thermal, (c) wind, (d) coal, (e) oil, (f) biofuel, (g) nuclear and (h) geothermal.

Gregory Barker: We do not have figures for the amount of water used to produce one megawatt hour of energy in the UK from different primary energy sources.
	Water is used at three main stages in the production of energy: when extracting resources such as coal, oil and uranium; while processing fuels; and during energy conversion, such as in a thermal power station. There have been many studies trying to estimate the “water footprint” of producing energy, but most only look at one or more of these stages and so do not give a complete picture.

Energy: Conservation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change by what percentage he expects the (a) Green Deal and (b) Energy Companies Obligation to reduce the UK's energy consumption; what his policy is regarding the proposed EU Energy Efficiency Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: An impact assessment of the Green Deal and ECO was published alongside the draft statutory instruments on 23 November 2011. This stated that, under the Government's preferred option, the policy would deliver 21 TWh of energy savings in 2020. This is approximately 1.3% of the UK's projected final energy consumption in 2020. The impact assessment can be found here:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/green_deal/green_deal.aspx
	There is a considerable level of uncertainty around both the estimates of energy savings and final energy consumption. The actual levels of take-up of energy efficiency measures will be influenced by a wide range of factors including energy prices and consumer attitudes towards the Green Deal.
	The Government support the aims and objectives of the proposed EU energy efficiency directive but believe that many of the proposed requirements are over-prescriptive with the potential to cut across the policy framework in the UK. We will therefore be seeking much greater flexibility for member states while at the same time securing directive that delivers energy savings across the EU.

Energy: Conservation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made any assessment of the (a) costs and (b) benefits of (i) consumption targets and (ii) intensity targets for energy efficiency; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The UK already has an indicative target for energy savings by 2016 under the EU energy end use efficiency and services directive. The UK is expected to exceed this target and, compared to the baseline, UK policy measures will lead to more than 200TWh energy savings by 2016.(1)
	The European Commission has also proposed, in the draft energy efficiency directive, that member states set themselves an indicative primary energy consumption target for 2020, and that member states establish energy efficiency obligation schemes requiring all energy suppliers (or distributors) to meet an annual energy-saving target based on energy sales in the previous year. However, as negotiations are still in process, it is unclear what form these targets might ultimately take and what, if any, target the UK might subsequently adopt. Therefore, we are not currently able to assess any associated costs and benefits.
	(1 )DECC, UK report on articles 4 and 14 of the EU end-use efficiency and energy services directive, July 2011

Energy: EU Action

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with their EU counterparts on (i) the Green Deal and (ii) the Green Investment Bank; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: I discussed the Green Deal specifically with Katherina Reiche, from the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) during my visit to Berlin earlier this year. Energy efficiency issues and the Green Investment Bank have come up in the course of my more general discussions with a range of EU counterparts. Officials have discussed the Green Deal and GIB with counterparts in several EU institutions and EU member states including the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland. Green Deal officials have also had discussions with the European Investment Bank over the last year.

Energy: Housing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will issue guidance to local authorities pursuant to the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 on the installation in residential accommodation of (a) micro combined heat and power boilers and (b) passive flue gas heat recovery systems; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) requires local authorities (LAs) to report on action to improve the energy efficiency in their residential accommodation. The Government's proposals for the Green Deal will fundamentally alter the landscape against which LAs will fulfil this requirement.
	The Green Deal consultation document was published on 23 November and Annex A sets out the eligible measures. Both micro combined heat and power boilers and passive flue gas heat recovery systems are included.
	LAs will need to time to consider the Green Deal proposals and what this means for their local energy efficiency plans. We therefore propose to issue new HECA guidance in spring 2012.

Energy: Housing

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  whether he proposes to issue guidance to local authorities regarding the excuse of their responsibilities under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995; and whether such guidance will include (a) targets for local authorities regarding increases in home energy efficiency, (b) targets for local authorities to reduce the number of households in fuel poverty and (c) ways in which community groups, local businesses and other local people may be involved in helping to deliver reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, greater energy efficiency and local green energy;
	(2)  pursuant to the contribution by the Minister of State in his Department, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle, of 10 May 2011, Official Report, column 1103, on Second Reading of the Energy Bill [Lords], what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to breathe new life into the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995;
	(3)  if, in exercise of the power conferred on him by section 4(2) of the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995, he will issue guidance to local authorities as to what levels of improvements in energy efficiency are to be regarded as significant.

Gregory Barker: The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) requires local authorities (LAs) with housing responsibilities to report on action to improve the energy efficiency in their residential accommodation. The Government's proposals for the Green Deal will fundamentally alter the landscape against which LAs will fulfil this requirement.
	The Green Deal consultation document was published on 23 November and we aim to have final proposals available early next year. LAs will need to time to consider the Green Deal proposals and what this means for their plans for energy efficiency locally. With this in mind we therefore propose to issue new HECA guidance in spring 2012.
	We are currently considering the future scope of guidance under HECA and will develop proposals in partnership with local government in the context of DECC's Memorandum of Understanding with the Local Government Association.

Energy: Meters

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to ensure smart meters are provided to all residential gas and electricity customers.

Charles Hendry: The Government will place regulatory obligations on energy suppliers that will require them to take all reasonable steps to install smart meters for all their domestic and smaller non-domestic customers by the completion date in 2019.

Energy: Meters

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether households will be able to choose not to have a smart meter installed if they have concerns about the health effects of exposure to radio frequency, such as non-thermal health effects.

Charles Hendry: We expect the benefits of smart meters, such as providing consumers with control over their energy usage and an end to estimated bills, will lead to demand for them from consumers.
	To ensure that all customers are able to benefit from smart meters, we will require suppliers to take all reasonable steps to install smart meters. However, we recognise that there may be some circumstances where it would not be practical to install a smart meter.
	We have made it clear that we do not expect suppliers to seek an entry warrant simply to fit a smart meter and it will not be an offence for householders to refuse to accept a smart meter.

Energy: Meters

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 14 July 2011, Official Report, column 491W, on meters: radio frequencies, what recent steps he has taken to alleviate concerns of people who experience non-thermal health effects of exposure to electromagnetic microwave radiation.

Charles Hendry: We have continued to engage with a wide range of stakeholders in the development of the smart meters programme. For example, the consultation on the technical specification of smart meters was sent to a wide variety of stakeholders for their consideration, including those that have an interest in health issues. The draft technical specification includes reference to the fact that, to be compliant, a smart meter must comply with the internationally agreed guidelines set out by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
	We also continue to respond to letters and inquiries as they come through to us, including those from members of the public or stakeholder bodies who have questions about electromagnetic sensitivity and smart meters.

Energy: Prices

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an estimate of the number of energy customers who switched suppliers (a) once and (b) twice or more in each of the last five years.

Charles Hendry: The following table shows the number of customers who have switched from one supplier to another during the last five years.
	
		
			 Million 
			  Electricity Gas 
			 2006 4.836 3.912 
			 2007 5.157 3.981 
			 2008 5.427 4.158 
			 2009 5.022 3.825 
			 2010 4.746 3.558 
		
	
	The data are collected by Ofgem and do not show how many times a customer may have switched.

Energy: Prices

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to ensure that all customers can access the best energy deals regardless of their financial situation.

Charles Hendry: Ofgem is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, including the rules that govern a supplier's right to block a customer from accessing other gas or electricity deals if an amount remains outstanding on their energy account 28 days after it has been formally demanded. If a customer wishes to switch, their supplier will issue a blocking notice which requires the customer to repay the debt within 30 working days in order for the switch to proceed.

Energy: Prices

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps (a) he and (b) Ofgem plan to take to monitor the pricing practices of energy companies in respect of (i) doorstep selling and (ii) pre-payment meters.

Charles Hendry: Ofgem is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, including the marketing activities used by supply companies and energy tariffs. In 2009, Ofgem brought in new rules on (i) doorstep selling, that require any information used during the sales process to be complete, accurate and not misleading and (ii) pricing, including rules to prevent unfair price differentials, such as those between different payment methods. It is for Ofgem to investigate any allegations of the rules being breached and to take any necessary action.
	Ofgem are currently investigating a number of suppliers regarding their compliance with their doorstep selling rules and Ofgem have also reported on the effectiveness of their rules on cost reflective pricing. They have found that prepayment meter (PPM) customers now pay, on average, £20 less than standard credit customers for their gas and electricity. They have also found that direct debit customers now pay, on average, £70 less than PPM for gas and electricity, which is within the £88 indicative cost difference between providing and servicing a PPM compared to a direct debit account, identified by Ofgem. A copy of the full Ofgem Retail Market Report is available online at:
	www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/rmr/Documents1/RMR_FINAL.pdf
	We support Ofgem's actions in tackling unjustified tariff premiums to ensure consumers do not lose out and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has also announced that the Government are considering giving Ofgem additional powers to secure redress for consumers where they have lost out as a result of a licence or energy regulation breach.

Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on (a) his proposed reforms to feed-in tariffs and (b) the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Association in 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Local Government Association (LGA) have been actively involved in discussions on the review of the feed-in tariffs (FITs) scheme.
	The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and councillor Richard Kemp of the LGA in March 2011, and was discussed at a meeting on 28 November between the Secretary of State and the LGA.

Fuel Poverty: Cancer

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has considered providing support to cancer patients in fuel poverty to find the most appropriate tariff for their energy supplies.

Gregory Barker: The eligibility criteria and type of support provided within the Warm Home Discount scheme were considered in the Warm Home Discount consultation and accompanying impact assessment. These documents, together with the Government's response are available via:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/warmhome/warmhome.aspx
	This year I am aware that a number of energy suppliers are working with Macmillan Cancer Support under the industry initiatives section of the Warm Home Discount scheme to provide support to cancer patients in fuel poverty and I fully support these initiatives.

Fuel Poverty: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners in Preston constituency living in fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: Estimates for the numbers of pensioners in fuel poverty are not made on a sub-regional basis. The number of households in the Preston constituency in fuel poverty in 2009 was 9,500 (25% of households in the Preston constituency).
	In England in 2009, 2,045,000 households containing someone aged 60 or over were in fuel poverty (27%).

Green Deal Scheme: Solar Power

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to co-ordinate the introduction of the Green Deal with the uptake of solar photovoltaics in residential buildings.

Gregory Barker: The proposed energy efficiency requirement set out in the 31 October consultation on the feed-in tariffs scheme is intended to provide an additional incentive for the uptake of the Green Deal, as households improving their energy efficiency will have access to higher tariffs for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations.
	The legal framework and supporting guidance that is needed for the Green Deal will be in place by October 2012. In the consultation we are proposing as a transitional measure that solar PV installations between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 would have 12 months from their eligibility date to meet the energy efficiency requirement.

Nuclear Installations: Safety

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to receive the Office for Nuclear Regulation's first report on the state of security in the civil nuclear industry and the effectiveness of security regulation; and what plans he has to distribute the report.

Charles Hendry: The latest report was published on 21 November 2011 and is available in the House Library and on the Health and Safety Executive's website. The report states that, for the period it covers, the civil nuclear industry applied the relevant security regulations in accordance with the standards required of it and that those regulations achieved the purpose for which they were designed.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the feed-in tariff scheme has been taken up by (a) investors and (b) individual home and business owners.

Gregory Barker: The Ofgem Central Feed-in Tariffs Register does not make a specific distinction between FITs payments received by investors and those received by individual home/business owners. However, the register (as at 23 November 2011) does show that of the 109,810 installations in total, 97.7% are domestic, 1.7% are commercial, 0.1% are industrial and 0.6% are community installations.
	The most recent available figures also show that for 19.6% of solar photovoltaic installations, the generator or nominated recipient was in receipt of FITs payments for more than one PV installations.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Daniel Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will meet representatives from the oil-fired heating industry to discuss the inclusion of bioliquids in the renewable heat incentive.

Gregory Barker: As stated in the renewable heat incentive policy document (published in March), we are considering whether to support bioliquids as part of developing the second phase of the scheme.
	I have asked my officials to engage with Oftec (Oil Firing Technical Association) who represent members of the oil-fired heating industry. They have provided useful evidence which we are considering. I therefore do not propose to meet members of the oil-fired heating industry at this time.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Daniel Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will meet representatives from the oil-fired heating industry to discuss the inclusion of bioliquids in the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Gregory Barker: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him today to question 81452.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to decide whether to include bioliquids in the renewable heat incentive; and when he plans to announce his decision.

Gregory Barker: As stated in the renewable heat incentive policy document (published in March), we are considering whether to support bioliquids as part of developing the second phase of the scheme. In the light of the later than expected launch of phase 1 of the renewable heat incentive and of the changes required by the European Commission, we are reviewing the timetable for the introduction of phase 2 and will confirm the timetable early next year.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will meet representatives from the Oil Firing Technical Association to discuss the inclusion of bioliquids in the renewable heat incentive.

Gregory Barker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) today to question 81452.

Social Rented Housing: Energy

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of rising energy prices on housing revenue account tenanted properties;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of rising energy prices on the cost of communal heating in housing revenue account tenanted properties.

Andrew Stunell: I have been asked to reply.
	No such assessment has been made for housing revenue account tenanted properties.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of companies that will be forced to cease trading as a result of the proposed reductions to solar photovoltaic feed-in tariffs.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not hold relevant information on which to base any estimate of companies that will be forced to cease trading in the UK solar industry. The impact assessment accompanying the Government's consultation on feed-in tariffs (FITs) for solar photovoltaics (PV) available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/fits-comp-review-p1/3416-fits-IA-solar-pv-draft.pdf
	estimates that new solar PV installations will continue to come forward under the proposed changes to FITs for solar PV. The impact assessment does not estimate the specific impact of the proposed changes, or the potential new business opportunities arising from the consultation proposals on energy efficiency, on the UK solar industry.
	Current tariffs are providing returns well in excess of the approximately 5% that was intended when the FITs scheme was launched, and the proposed new tariffs are intended to ensure that returns go back to this level.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy (a) not to change future rates for the feed-in tariff between its scheduled annual review dates and (b) to honour contracts entered into, with deposits paid, for photovoltaic systems up to the date of his 31 October announcement of a 50 per cent. reduction in the rate of the feed-in tariff.

Gregory Barker: We will publish a second consultation around the end of 2011 which will consider other aspects of the scheme including the tariffs for other FIT technologies and proposals for introducing new cost control mechanisms for FITs to ensure the scheme stays within the spending envelope. In doing so, we are looking to develop a cost control mechanism that will minimise the need to make rapid and unscheduled changes to the scheme.
	Our consultation on tariffs for solar PV proposes that new tariffs will be implemented from 1 April 2012 but will apply to all new PV installations with an eligibility date on or after a proposed “reference date” of 12 December 2011.
	The proposals are designed to strike a balance between the need for quick action and the desire to allow people an opportunity to finish work that is well under way. The proposed six-week period will allow many prospective generators who have made a financial commitment to installing PV (for example, paying a deposit) to do this. We will consider all representations made during the consultation, including those related to the proposed reference date.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what account he took of the tax revenues raised previously from businesses supplying photovoltaic systems when determining the reduction in the rate of the feed-in tariff at 50 per cent.; what estimate he has made of the impact on photovoltaic business suppliers' viability of reducing the rate of the feed-in tariff by 50 per cent.; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The impact assessment supporting the consultation on FITs for solar PV:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/fits-comp-review-p1/3416-fits-IA-solar-pv-draft.pdf
	sets out the impact on the level of employment as a result of the change to the feed-in tariffs. It estimates that 1,000 to 10,000 gross full-time employee jobs could be supported in this sector in the three years to 2014-15 under the proposals. This estimate relates to solar PV installations only and does not account for jobs created as a result of the proposed energy efficiency requirement.
	The impact assessment did not consider previous tax revenues.

Water: Housing

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will adapt the Green Deal assessment of a household to include water efficiency measures.

Gregory Barker: A number of hot water efficiency measures will be included in the Green Deal assessment and may be eligible for Green Deal finance. General advice on wider water efficiency issues will also be provided to households as part of Green Deal advice.

Wind Power: Costs

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to reduce the cost of offshore wind power.

Charles Hendry: The UK is the global leader for offshore wind and well placed to continue this lead role up to 2020 and beyond. In the Renewable Energy Roadmap published in July 2011 we set out that up to 18 GW could be deployed by 2020. However, to realise this potential will require a substantial reduction in the levelised cost of energy for this technology. We have announced the establishment of an industry-led Task Force to set out an action plan to reduce the costs of offshore wind to £100/MWh by 2020. The Task Force, which is due to report in the spring next year, is chaired by Andrew Jamieson, Chair of Renewable UK, and supported by 15 other members from industry with support from Government and The Crown Estate. The Task Force has met twice since it was established.
	DECC is also providing a further £30 million of direct innovation support for offshore wind cost reduction. The first £5 million call for proposals under this scheme was launched on 22 November.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to publish the full bidding guidance for funding from the Weekly Collection Support Scheme.

Bob Neill: We will announce further details about the Weekly Collection Support Scheme shortly, and we will publish the full bidding guidance and invite bids in the new year.

Energy Performance Certificates

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of homes in England has an energy performance certificate.

Andrew Stunell: As of 20 November 2011, approximately 6.73 million energy performance certificates had been produced for homes in England that have been constructed, sold or rented out since August 2007. This figure includes some homes for which more than one certificate has been produced. It is estimated, based on the latest estimate for the total dwelling stock (22.69 million in October 2010), that approximately 30% of homes in England currently have an energy performance certificate.

EU Grants and Loans: North East Region

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2011, Official Report, columns 1179-80W, on EU Grants and Loans: North East, what the monetary value was of the funding to the North East England 2007-13 European Regional Development Fund Competitiveness Programme that remained uncommitted at the end of October 2011.

Bob Neill: The monetary value of the North East England European Regional Development Fund Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 that remained uncommitted at the end of October 2011 was £123 million.
	The 2007-13 allocation must be spent by 2015.
	I also refer the hon. Member to my Department's press notice of 1 August 2011, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House, which outlines how the European Regional Development Fund has previously been plagued by a legacy of poor administration, and how this Government have overhauled the management of these schemes. As a result of these measures, the European Commission lifted an interruption on the programme which it had ordered. These steps will also protect taxpayers from the prospect of “financial corrections” being levied due to poor administration, as happened under the 2000-06 programme.

Housing: Fire Extinguishers

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the use of automatic fire suppression systems in residential properties in other countries.

Andrew Stunell: The information requested is not held centrally. My officials do, as far as possible, keep abreast of relevant international developments and ensure that any research or analysis uses all available data.
	The cost benefit analysis that formed part of 2005 study into the effectiveness of residential sprinklers relied extensively on US data where UK data were not available. More recently, the 2010 “Cost Benefit Analysis of Options to Reduce the Risk of Fire and Rescue in Areas of New Build Homes” took account of US and New Zealand data as part of the research literature review. The 2010 report is available on the DCLG website at:
	www.communities.gov.uk/documents/fire/pdf/costbenefitfirenewbuild.pdf

Housing: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many dwellings were constructed in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stunell: A table showing the number of new build dwellings completed by year in each local authority district in Lancashire, including Pendle, is available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website (Live Table 253):
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/housebuilding/livetables/
	Information is not available at parliamentary constituency level.
	Lancashire total figures are available only for 2009-10 due to incomplete district data for the other years.

Housing Reform: Media

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the oral statement of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 43, on housing reform, if he will publish the media strategy in relation to his announcement listing all media interviews the Minister for Housing and Local Government carried out prior to the oral statement.

Grant Shapps: holding answer 25 November 2011
	The planned publication of the Government's national housing strategy, Laying the Foundations, on the morning of Monday 21 November, generated a significant amount of media interest. Prior notice was given to the House that a written statement was to be made on housing. As a result of this interest, as the Minister for Housing and Local Government, I accepted a number of requests for interviews from national and regional broadcasters on the morning of publication.
	A number of the fundamental measures contained in the housing strategy had been announced to the House previously. I refer the hon. Member in particular to my written statement of 4 April 2011, Official Report, column 46WS, announcing details of New Homes Bonus funding to provide local authorities with a real incentive to deliver housing growth; the written statement from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of 10 October 2011, Official Report, column 1WS, which outlined our reforms to the right to buy, funding to tackle empty homes, the proposed introduction of a “pay to stay scheme” for social tenants on incomes of greater than £100,000 per annum and work to release public sector land to support the building of 100,000 new homes; and the statement of 7 November 2011, Official Report, column 9WS, which announced details of the Government's £500 million Growing Places Fund to support infrastructure and unlock stalled housing sites.
	Given these statements, it was quite legitimate to engage in a public debate whilst making clear, as I did, that full details of new policy proposals would only be released later in the day after the House had been notified.

Housing Reform: Media

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the contribution of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 61, Points of Order, with which third parties his Department discussed its housing reform proposals prior to his oral statement to the House.

Grant Shapps: holding answer 25 November 2011
	Discussions took place with a range of third parties in the run up to publication of the housing strategy, to inform policy development, strengthen our evidence base and ensure that the strategy responded to issues and concerns across the housing market. In setting up the mortgage indemnity scheme, which is externally led, it would have been impossible not to talk to lenders, builders and sector organisations.

Housing Reform: Media

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Housing and Local Government of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 58, on housing reform, and the contribution of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 61, Points of Order, if he will instigate an inquiry on disclosure by the media of the housing reform statement prior to it being made to the House.

Grant Shapps: holding answer 25 November 2011
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him in PQs 82880 and 82881 on 29 November 2011 and to the statement of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 61.

Housing Reform: Media

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to his oral statement of 21 November 2011, Official Report, column 43, on housing reform, if he will publish the media grid his Department used in relation to that statement, including the (a) journalists and (b) media outlets that received briefings; and when such briefings took place.

Grant Shapps: holding answer 25 November 2011
	A press notice was released by my Department's press office after the deposit of the written ministerial statement and associated documents in the Library of the House, and was distributed widely.

Housing Reform: Media

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure that significant policy announcements from his Department are made in the House prior to their release to the media.

Grant Shapps: holding answer 25 November 2011
	The Department for Communities and Local Government ensures as a matter of course that Parliament is informed of significant policy announcements, usually by written ministerial statement.

Planning Permission: Taxation

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent research his Department has conducted into the merits of tax on the land value uplift created by the granting of planning permission.

Bob Neill: The Department has conducted no recent research into the merits of a tax on the land value uplift created by the granting of planning permissions.
	The last Government planned the introduction of a planning gain supplement (including introducing preparatory legislation), but abandoned the policy, no doubt because of the likelihood of uncertainty, lengthy negotiations and legal disputes arising from the complex calculations of the value of the uplift.
	Attempts by previous Governments to introduce land development taxes resulting from planning permission (the 1947 development charge, the 1967 betterment levy, the development gains tax introduced in 1973 and the development land tax in 1976) were similarly ineffective or unsuccessful.
	The community infrastructure levy came into force in April 2010 (amended in April 2011) and allows local authorities in England and Wales to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in their area. Where it is charged the incidence of the levy will fall to land-owners whose land typically rises in value upon the granting of planning permission ('uplift'); the Department published an impact assessment to accompany the introduction of the community infrastructure levy:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/infrastructurelevyfinal
	Similarly, planning agreements (‘section 106 agreements'), between local authorities and developers, allow local authorities to access the development value that arises through the granting of planning permissions to ensure that the development is acceptable in planning terms. The Department has conducted a number of research projects on such agreements:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningbuilding/planningresearch/researchreports/planningobligationsresearch/

Rented Housing: Greater London

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has made an assessment of the extent to which landlords have evicted tenants in London in order to let their properties at higher prices during the London 2012 Olympics; whether he plans to take steps to discourage this practice; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stunell: We have received no evidence that landlords are seeking to evict tenants in order to let at higher rents during the London 2012 Olympics. Any landlord seeking to evict a tenant would need to operate within the existing legal framework which entitles most tenants to an initial fixed term of six months, and two months' notice of eviction. That framework would also apply to any new tenancy. Landlords seeking to let properties on a short term basis only may need to seek planning permission for a change of use of their property from a residential to commercial let.

Right to Buy Scheme: Greater London

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the number of households in each local authority in London which have a right to buy.

Grant Shapps: We do not have estimates of the number of households in each local authority area in London which have a right to buy. However, an approximation of this can be observed from related statistics.
	Table 100 available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/stockincludingvacants/livetables/
	shows the dwelling stock by tenure in each local authority district. Tenants of occupied local authority owned properties who have been in social housing for five years or more are entitled to right to buy.
	Estimates of the number of tenants entitled to right to buy in each local authority area are not available. However, the English Housing Survey provides an estimate of the length of current residency for tenants at a regional level. This shows that in 2009-10 around 300,000 households in local authority owned stock in London had been in their current accommodation for five or more years. However, this does not capture those that have previously been resident in social housing prior to their current accommodation and therefore is likely to be an underestimate of the proportion that are eligible for right to buy.
	Furthermore, some tenants living in housing association stock from pre-1989 will also have the right to buy and also some tenants living in housing association stock which has been transferred from local authorities have the preserved right to buy.

Standards for England: Credit Cards

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library what the (a) date, (b) transaction type, (c) supplier and (d) merchant type or supplier description was of each transaction made on the Standards Board corporate credit card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

Bob Neill: The requested information has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The Standards Board is being abolished following the passage of the Localism Act.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Ascension Island: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department has given to Ascension Island in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Duncan: Ascension does not receive financial assistance from the Department for International Development. Its costs are supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence.

Central African Republic: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding for development aid his Department has allocated to the Central African Republic in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated the following funds to the Central African Republic (CAR) over the last 10 years. DFID has provided humanitarian assistance and other support through multilateral partners such as the United Nations.
	
		
			 Financial year £000 
			 2001-02 0 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 2,197 
			 2007-08 1,134 
			 2008-09 3,615 
			 2009-10 2,706 
			 2010-11 1,291

Central African Republic: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he has taken to monitor how UK development aid to the Central African Republic is used.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have an office in the Central African Republic (CAR). However, DFID has provided humanitarian assistance and other support through multilateral partners such as the United Nations.
	The results from our contributions to these organisations are regularly monitored through agreed reporting mechanisms such as quarterly reporting and progress updates.

Departmental Publications

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports his Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each.

Alan Duncan: I will place in the Library a copy of the Department for International Development expenditure on published leaflets and reports since May 2010. The names of the company that published (if printed) and/or designed has been included. No posters were published in this period.
	It is not possible to provide full information for leaflets, posters and reports published by our offices overseas without incurring disproportionate cost.

Developing Countries: Water

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he plans to attend the Sanitation and Water for All high-level meeting in Washington DC in April 2012.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) strongly supports the work of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership to increase accountability of both developing countries and donors for delivering results on the ground.
	DFID recognise that it will be important to have a strong UK presence at the next high-level meeting in April 2012. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development has not as yet planned his detailed involvement at the spring meetings. DFID will give this important meeting the due consideration that it deserves, and will ensure that the UK is appropriately represented.

Fragile States: Politics and Government

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he plans to take to strengthen governance and security in fragile and conflict-affected states.

Alan Duncan: Capable and legitimate governance institutions are critical for ending cycles of violence and instability in fragile and conflict-affected states. Following last year's bilateral aid review, the coalition Government are committed to strengthening governance and security in all 21 fragile and conflict-affected states where we work. The Government will spend approximately 16% of their bilateral programme on governance and security-related activities over the next four years. This includes programmes to:
	(a) Support elections, parliaments and democratic governance;
	(b) Empower citizens to take control of their own affairs and hold governments to account;
	(c) Improve security and justice for poor people, and reduce violence against women;
	(d) Build the capacity of national and local level governments to deliver health, education and other key services;
	(e) Promote effective and sustainable tax systems which strengthen accountability and facilitate the exit from aid.

Humanitarian Aid

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial resources his Department has allocated to dealing with humanitarian disasters in the remainder of the comprehensive spending review period.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) has set aside an allocation of £20.9 million to deal with rapid onset disasters for each remaining year of the comprehensive spending review period to 31 March 2015. We also have additional funds available to draw on should they be required as disasters occur.
	Following DFID's Multilateral Aid Review and the UK Government Response to the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review we have also agreed predictable multi-year humanitarian core funding of £768.9 million for UN agencies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies over the comprehensive spending review period 2011-12 to 2014-15.

Middle East: Politics and Government

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary on supporting reform of governance in (a) Pakistan, (b) Afghanistan and (c) Iraq.

Alan Duncan: I have regular conversations with the Foreign Secretary about the UK's engagement in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq at the cross-Government National Security Council meetings. Improving governance is a key focus of Her Majesty's Government's country business plans for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his questions 83418, 83419 and 83420 on 28 November 2011, Official Report, columns 671W, 662W and 669W. Officials from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) work closely on strengthening standards of governance in all three countries, including through joint assistance provided to the UK Conflict Pool.

Pitcairn Island: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on the provision of development aid to Pitcairn Island; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The UK is obliged under the UN Charter to promote the well-being of the inhabitants of the Overseas Territories (OTs). The International Development Act 2002 exempts the territories from the poverty criteria that apply to the rest of the aid budget. Successive White Papers on international development, including those produced since 1997, have committed the British Government to meeting the “reasonable needs” of the OTs as a first call on the aid budget.
	The Department for International Development provides development aid to Pitcairn Island to meet its citizens' reasonable needs, ensuring maintenance of a range of basic public services (e.g. electricity, telecommunications) and provision of part-time public sector employment. Budget aid is also used to provide medical and educational services, as well as a shipping service that provides a necessary life-line in terms of freight and passenger services.

Tristan da Cunha: Oil

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department is providing for Tristan da Cunha as a result of the M. V. Oliva oil incident.

Alan Duncan: The responsibility to make good any damage caused to the environment of the Tristan da Cunha islands, and to compensate the Tristan community for any losses lies with the ship's owners and insurers. Department for International Development officials are working closely with colleagues from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in ensuring that the insurers and owners continue to meet this responsibility in full. We remain in close touch with the Tristan da Cunha Authorities to ensure that they have all the advice and support they need from across Government and elsewhere in the continuing negotiations with the insurers.
	While the Government are quite clear that all costs resulting from this incident must be borne by the owners and insurers, a top-up to Tristan da Cunha's financial reserves was made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in March to protect the community against immediate and short term costs.